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CHARLES SUMNER. 



THE LIFE 



CHAKLES SUM NEK: 



CHOICE SPEC niEXS OK HIS ELOQUENCE, A DEIJXEATIOX 
OF HIS ORATORICAE CHARACTER, 



HIS GUEAT SPEECH UN KANSAS. 



By D. a. harsh a, 

AUTHOR OF " EMINENT ORATORS AND STATtSMEN," ETC., ETC. 



' Wliere Libertj Is, there in mr countrr." 

BINJAVIN FXAKXLIN. 




XEW YORK: 

• DAYTON AND BURDICK, 

2 9 A N N - S T R E E T . 

1 8 5 f. . 



E^i6 



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EntorcJ according to Act of Cunirress, in the year l?o6, by 

D.VYTON AND BURDICK, 

III the Clerk's Office -.f ttio restrict Court of the United States for the 
Soil' hern District of New York. 



SriKaoTmo bt 

RICHARD ■ VALENTIN'S. 
17 Dutch-itxaat, S 7. 



PREFACE. 



In preparing the following brief Memoir of the 
Hon. Charles Sumnek, we would mention three 
principal objects which we have had in view : 
1st, The presentation of the leading events in his 
public life, in a chronological order ; 2d, The in- 
troduction of the choicest specimens of his elo- 
quence, especially those passages which best illus- 
trate his character as an advocate of human rights, 
and, at the same time, afford the finest examples 
of his style of composition ; and 3d, The delinea- 
tion of his oratorical character. 

The dates and circumstances connected with 
the delivery of his numerous orations and speeches 
are given, with connnents on the passages quoted, 
pai'ticularly with regard to the style, the grandeur 
of their conception, or the happy and forcible 
illustration of their subjects. Nothing need be 
1* 



6 PKEFACE. 

said in commendation of the great speech on 
Kansas, which we have added as the masterpiece 
of Mr. Sumner. It speaks for itself, and we ear- 
nestly request every American citizen to peruse it 
carefully. The ingenuous reader will admire it 
as an eloquent production, a manly declaration of 
the noble sentiments of its author on an important 
question, and a glorious defence of Liberty in an 
oppressed Territory. It is full of the beautiful 
and sublime, grand in its diction, rich and in- 
structive in its historical details, logical in its 
deductions, and powerful in its appeals. 

In the Appendix will be found the scathing 
speech of Daniel Lord, Esq., delivered at the 
indignation meeting in Kew York, and the re- 
marks made at the indignation meeting in Faneuil 
Hall, Boston, together with the speeches of Itev. 
Drs. Halley and Hague, at a similar meeting in 
Albany, We would here remark that the speeches 
of these distinguished clergymen are among the 
most eloquent and spirit-stirring that have been 
made on such occasions, and reflect much credit 
upon the genius and patriotism of their authors. 

This biographical sketch, accompanied by an 
immortal speech, is now respectfully offered to 



PREFACE. 7 

the public, in the hope that it may prove both 
interesting and instructive to the thousands of ouj' 
citizens who are manifesting their sympathy for 
the stricken senator. "Would that it were a more 
worthy tribute of honor to the man, Mhose blood, 
unrighteously shed, calls aloud to heaven and 
earth for avenging justice, and M'hose name shall 
be transmitted to the most distant posterity, among 
the noble army of mart}Trs to the cause of Liberty ! 
May the reader rise from the perusal of this 
volume with feelings of admiration for Charles 
SuMNEK, the ripe scholar, the able lawyer, the 
eloquent orator, the accomplished statesman, the 
noble champion of Freedom. 

Aeqyle, N. Y., October, 1866. 



"Tell me not of rights — talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves. 
I deny the ritiht — I acknowledge not the property. The principles, the feel- 
ings of our couimon nature, rise in rebellion against it. Be the appeal made 
to the understanding or to the heart, the sentence is the same that rejects it. 
In vain you tell me of laws that sanction such a claim ! There is a law above 
all the enactments of human codes— the same throughout the world, the same 
in all times ; it is the law written by the finger of God on the heart of man ; 
and by that law, unchangeable and eternal, while men despise fraud, and 
loathe rapine and abhor blood, they will reject, with indignation, the wild and 
guilty phantasy that man can hold property in man." — Lord Brouoiiau. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



His birth — notice of his fiither— early education— wins several lite- 
rary prizes — a close student of history — his youth — early associ- 
ations—passage from Mr. Everett— remarks of Mr. Sumner on 
Boston— jrraduates at Harvard Collesre — studies law — a diliger.t 
student— eloquent passage from Dr. Chalmers, on genius and in- 
dustry — Mr. Sumner writes for tlie American Jurist — becomes its 
editor — admitted to the bar — practices in Boston — appointed re- 
porter of the Circuit Court — lectures to the law students of 
Cambridge — edits an important law-book — his position as a 
lawyer ^13 



CHAPTER II. 

Visit to Europe — letters of introduction — received in England with 
marked attention — attends the debates in Parliament — favorably 
received by members of the Englisli Bar, &c. — visits Paris — writes 
a defence of the American claim to the Northeastern boundary — 
visits Italy — studies art and literature there — visits Germany — 
returns to Boston — again lectures in Cambridge — publishes an 
edition of Vesey's Reports — delivers hid oration, entitled the True 
Grandeur of Nations — Judge Story's opinion of it— eloquent pas- 
sage on the Reign of Peace 26 



10 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Spoken of as the successor of Judge Story in the Law School — 
remarks of Story and Kent — espouses tlie cause of freedom — 
compared to Charles James Fox — delivers .a speech against;^ 
the admission of Texas as a slave State — extracts from tli«r 
speech 40 



CHAPTER IV. 

Pronounces an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Har- 
vard University — beautiful extracts — sentiment of John Quincy 
Adams — delivers a speech on the anti-slavery duties of the Whig^ 
party — glowing passages from this speech — delivers a brilliant 
lecture on white slavery in the Barbary States 46 



CHAPTER V. 

Pronounces an Oration before the Literary Societies of Amherst 
College — extracts — delivers an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa 
Society of Union College — splendid passages from this address — 
makes a speech before the Whig State Convention of Massachu- 
setts, at Springfield — forcible passages quoted from this address — 
remarks 59 



CHAPER VI. 

Delivers a Speech in a Mass Convention at Worcester, Massachu- 
setts — extracts — delivers an address before the American Peace 
Society in Boston — admirable passages quoted from this etFort — 
remarks, &c 73 



CHAPTER VII. 

Delivers a Speech at the Free Soil State Convention— remarks on 
this effort — forcible extracts— Mr. Sunnier ever true to the cause 
of freedom S5 



CONTENTS. 11 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Elected to the United States Senate — Letter of Acceptance— Speeches 
on the Iowa Eailroad Bill — An extract— delivers his celebrated 
Speech in the Senate, entitled Freedom National, Slavery Sec- 
tional — passage quoted on Freedom of Speech — the Peroration — 
remarks 96 



CHAPTER IX. 

Delivers a Speech at the Plymouth Festival — its peroration quoted — 
makes his memorable Speech in the Senate, The Landmark of 
Freedom ; Freedom National — extracts — his final protest for him- 
self and the Clergy of New England against Slavery in Nebraska 
and Kansas — his remarks on that occasion 112 



CHAPTER X. 

Delivers his speech in the Senate on the Boston Memorial for the 
Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Bill, etc. — makes an address before 
the Mercantile Library Association of Boston — delivers his speech 
in the Senate, entitled the Demands of Freedom — Repeal of the 
Fugitive Slave Bill — pronounces an address at the Metropolitan 
Theatre, New York — eloquent extracts 124 



CHAPTER XL 

The late Session of Congress — Mr. Sumner delivers his great Speech 
on Kansas — the assault in the Senate chamber — Mr. Sumner's 
statement respecting it— indignation meetings — remarks 138 



CHAPTER XII. 

Oratorical character of Mr. Sumner— his person— his delivery— his 
voice — his intellect — his learning — his imagination, &c. — his love 
of freedom— his style of composition — compared to Fisher Ames 
— concluding remarks 151 



12 CONTENTS. 

Speech 

The crime against Kansas. The apologies for the crime : the 
true remedy 161 

Appendix : 

Speech of Daniel Lord, delivered in the Broadway Tabernacle, 
May 30th, 1856 303 

Kemarks made at the indignation meeting Ln Boston, May 24tl:, 
1856 808 

Speech of Kev. Dr. Hague, at the indignation meeting in 
Albany, June 6th, 1856 813 

Speech of Eev. Dr. Halley, at the indignation meeting in 
Albany, J une 6th, 1856 321 



MEMOIR 

OF 

HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 



CHAPTER I. 

His birth — notice of his father— early education— wins several lite- 
rary prizes— a close student of history— liis youth — early associ- 
ations—passage from Mr. Everett— reinarlis of Mr. Sumner on 
Boston— graduates at Harvard College— studies law— a diligent 
student— eloquent passage from Dr. Chalmers, on genius and in- 
dustry — Mr. Sumner writes for the American Jurist — becomes its 
editor— admitted to the bar— practices in Boston— appointed re- 
porter of the Circuit Court— lectures to the law students of Cam- 
bridge — edits an important law-book — his position as a lawyer. 

Charles Sumner was bom in Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, on the 6th of February, 1811. His 
father, Charles Pinckney Sumner, was born in 
1776; was graduated at Harvard College, and 
studied law imder Hon. George Kichards Minot, 
and Hon. Josiah Quincy. He was a man of 
learning and abilities, and possessed a noble, 
philanthropic spirit. It is said that the happiness 
of mankind was his controlling passion. A simple 
anecdote will illustrate this : 

"Shortly after he left college, an incident oc- 



14 MEMOIR OF 

currcd expressive of this character. He passed a 
winter in the West Indies. The vessel in which 
he was a passenger, happened to stop at the 
Island of Hayti, which was then rejoicing in its in- 
dependence ; and the officers and passengers, with 
other American citizens there, were invited to a 
public entertaiinnent on the anniversary of ,the 
birthday of Washington, at which General Boyer, 
afterwards president of that republic, presided. 
Mr. Sumner, when called upon for a toast, gave 
the following: 'Liberty, Equality, and Happi- 
ness, to all men ;' which so much pleased Boyer, 
that he sent one of his aids-de-camp to invite the 
young American to take the seat of honor by his 
side at the feast." 

In 1798, at the age of twenty-two, he delivered 
the poem before the Phi Beta Kappa of Harvard 
College, and in 1800, pronounced a eulogy on 
Washington, which was included in an octavo 
volume entitled " Eulogies and Orations on Wash- 
ington," intended to embrace the best tributes to 
the memory of the " Fatlier of his Country." In 
1825, he was appointed by Gov. Lincoln to the 
office of high sheriff of the county of Suffolk, 
Massachusetts — a station which he occupied till 
his decease in 1839. 

Among other estimable qualities, Charles Pinck- 
ney Sumner was distinguished for his probity and 



HON. CHAR L E S S i: M N E R . 15 

conscientious integrity. It is stated, that more 
than one person remarked of him, that they would 
trust their whole fortunes to him, without bond or 
security of any kind. 

With regard to his literary character, we may 
also mention that he possessed respectable poetical 
talents. Some of his toasts at public festivals were 
expressed in verse, and were very felicitous. As 
a specimen, take the following, given July 4, 
1826. " The United States : One and indivisible." 

" Firm like the oak may our blest Union rise, 
No Ies3 distinguished for its strength and size ; 
The unequal branches emulous unite 
To shield and grace the trunk's majestic height; 
Through long succeeding years and centuries live, 
No vigor losing from the aid they give." 

Another toast, which he gave on the 4th of July, 
1828, in honor of Governor Lincoln, who was a 
practical farmer, deserves to be repeated here : 

" In China's realms, from earliest days till now. 
The well-loved emperor annual holds the plow ; 
Here, too, our ^torthiest candidates for fame. 
With unsoiled honor, sometimes do the same. 
Upholding such, our yeomen's generous hearts 
Show a just reverence to the first of arts." 

Mr. Sumner declined an invitation to become a 
candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. His 
memory will long be venerated by the patriotic 
citizens of his noble, native State. 

In early life the subject of our memoir mani- 



1G MEMOIR OF 

fested uncommon powers of intellect, and applied 
himself with indefatigable perseverance to the 
acquisition of useful knowledge, and to the im- 
provement of his mind. His youthful years were 
thus profitably passed in collecting gems of wis- 
dom and truth, and in laying the foundation of his 
future eminence as a scholar, and as an orator and 
statesman. He was carefully prepared for a col- 
legiate course, at the Boston Latin School, where 
he acquired the reputation of a diligent and suc- 
cessful student. Indeed, so high were his literary 
attainments at this school that, at the end of his 
course, he won the prizes for English composition 
and Latin poetry, besides the Franklin medal. 

It may here be stated that, among other studies 
which at this period engaged his attention, he was 
particularly delighted with history, a subject 
which he has ever since regarded with intense in- 
terest, and of which he has acquired a very accu- 
rate and extensive knowledge. It is said that 
while at the Boston Latin School, he would often 
rise before daylight to read Hume and Gibbon, 
and other celebrated historians. His mind was 
early replenished with the choicest passages and 
noblest expressions of ancient and modern writers, 
and these have been of eminent service to him 
while illustrating, defending, and enforcing the 
grand principles of justice and freedom. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. IT 

As we shall yet have occasion to see, his 
speeches are full of classical allusions — of apt and 
beautiful comparisons and elucidations drawn from 
the sparkling fountains of antirpiity. He also 
studied with much interest the manners and cus- 
toms of different nations, and the chronology and 
mythology of the ancients. 

The youth of Sumner was a pleasant season of 
rapid, intellectual development and progression 
in science and literature ; and the remembrance 
of youthful associations has been delightful to him 
ever since, as it must be to those who have passed 
their early days in virtuous habits and correct 
mental discipline. In allusion to those tender as- 
sociations of youtli, which we all cherish to the 
evening of life, he some time since beautifully re- 
marked : 

" We incline, by a natural emotion, to the spot 
where we were born, to the fields which witnessed 
the sports of childliood, to the seat of youthful 
studies, and to the institutions under whicli we 
have been trained. The finger of God writes all 
these things, in indelible colors, on the heart of 
man ; so that, in the dread extremities of death, 
he reverts, in fondness, to eai-ly associations, and 
longs for a draught of cold water from the bucket 
in his father's well." 

In the same mingled strain of pathos and beau- 
2* 



18 MEMOIROF 

ty does tlie classical and accomplished Everett al- 
lude to the scenes of his own schoolboy days. In 
1838, at a public festival at Exeter, where he had 
received his academical education, he remarked : 
" It was my good fortune, to pass here but a 
portion of the year before I entered college ; but 
I can truly say that even in that short time I con- 
tracted a debt of gratitude, which I have felt 
throughout my life, I return to these endeared 
scenes with mingled emotion. I find them chang- 
ed ; dwelling-places are no more on the same 
spots ; old edifices have disappeared ; new ones, 
both public and private, have been erected. Some 
of the respected heads of society whom I knew, 
though as a child, are gone. The seats in the 
Academy-room are otherwise arranged than for- 
merly, and even there the places that once knew 
me know me no more. Where the objects them- 
selves are unaltered, the changed eye and the 
changed mind see them differently. The streets 
seem narrower and shorter, the distances less con 
siderable ; this play-ground before us, which I re 
member as most spacious, seems sadly contracted 
But all, sir, is not changed, either in appearance 
or reality. The countenance of our reverend pre 
ceptor has undergone no change to my eye. li 
still expresses that suaviter in modo mentioned 
by the gentleman last up (Kev. Professor Ware, 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 19 

Jun.), with nothing of the sternness of the other 
princij^le. It is thus I remember it ; it was al- 
ways sunshine to me, Xature, in the larger fea- 
tures of the landscape, is unchanged ; the river 
still flows, the woods yield their shade as plea- 
santly as they did thirty years ago, doubly grate- 
ful for the contrast they afford to the dusty walks 
of active life ; for the solace they yield in an es- 
cape, however brief, from its burdens and cares. 
As I stood in the hall of the Academy, last even- 
ing, and saw from its windows the river winding 
through the valley, and the gentle slope rising 
from its opposite bank, and caught the cool breeze 
that was scattering freshness after the sultry sum- 
mer's day, I could feel the poetry of Gray, on re- 
visiting, in a like manner, the scenes of his school- 
boy days : 

' Ah, happy hills ! ah, pleasing shade ! 

Ah, fields beloved in vain ! 
Where once my careless cliildhood strayed, 

A stranger yet to pain ! 
I feel the gales that from ye blow 
A momentary bliss below. 

As, waving fresh their gladsome wing, 
My weary soul they seem to soothe, 
And, redolent of joy and youth. 
To breathe a second spring.' " 

Mr. Sumner early manifested the strongest at- 
tachment to Boston, his native city. In a passage 
of uncommon beauty he shows this regai'd in a 
happy manner : 



20 MEMOIROF 

" Boston has always led the generous and mag- 
nanimous actions of om* history. Boston led the 
cause of the Revolution. Here was commenced 
that discussion, pregnant with the independence 
of the colonies, which, at first occupying a few 
warm but true spirits only, finally absorbed all 
the best energies of the continent, — the eloquence 
of Adams, the patriotism of Jefierson, the wisdom 
of "Washington. Boston is the home of noble 
charities, the nurse of true learning, the city of 
churches. By all these tokens she stands con- 
spicuous, and other parts of the country are not 
unwilling to follow her example. Athens was 
called the eye of Greece, — Boston may be called 
the eye of America ; and the influence M'hich she 
exerts is to be referred, not to her size, — for there 
are other cities larger far, — but to her moral and 
intellectual character." 

In 1830, Mr, Sumner was graduated at Harvard 
College, and the following year, entered the Law 
School of the same institution. His whole atten- 
tion was now turned to the study of juridical sci- 
ence. Not trusting to genius alone, he inured his 
mind to incessant and hard study, and read all the 
legal authors of value which he met with. His 
labor in this respect was truly assiduous, as it was 
astonishing. We are informed that he never re- 
lied upon text-books, but sought original sources. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 21 

read all authorities and references, and made him- 
self familiar with books of the common law, from 
the year-books, in unconth JSTorman, down to the 
latest reports. It w^as said that he could go into 
the law library of which he was the librarian, and 
find in the dark any volume, if in its proper place. 

In the early intellectual culture of Mr. Sumner, 
we have another exemplification of that acknow- 
ledged truth, that in order to lead any individual, 
however gifted he may be, to the highest literary 
eminence, labor, industry, and perseverance, must 
always accompany genius. This idea is beauti- 
fully unfolded by Dr. Chalmers in an admirable 
passage which we must here be peruutted to quote 
at length : 

" It is by dint of steady labor — it is by giving 
enough of application to the work, and having 
enough of time for the doing of it — it is by regu- 
lar painstaking and the plying of constant assidui- 
ties — it is by these, and not by any process of leger- 
demain, that we secure the strength and the sta- 
ple of real excellence. It was thus that Demos- 
thenes, clause after clause, and sentence after sen- 
tence, elaborated, and that to the uttennost, his 
immortal orations ; it was thus that Newton pio- 
neered his way, by the steps of an ascending 
geometry, to the mechanism of the heavens — after 
which, he left this testimony behind him, that he 



22 MEMOIROF 

was conscious of nothing else but a habit of pa- 
tient thinking, which could at all distinguish him 
from other men. He felt that it was no inaccessi- 
ble superiority on which he stood, and it was thus 
that he generously proclaimed it. It is certainly 
another imagination that prevails in regard to 
those who have l»ft the stupendous monuments of 
intellect behind them — not that they were diiFer- 
ently exercised from the rest of the sj^ecies, but 
that they must have been differently gifted. It is 
their talent, and almost never their industry, by 
which they have been thought to signalize them- 
selves ; and seldom is it adverted to, how much it 
is to the more strenuous application of those com- 
mon-place faculties which are diffused among all, 
that they are indebted for the glories which now 
encircle their remembrance and their name. It 
is felt to be a vulgarizing of genius that it should 
be lighted up in any other way than by a direct 
inspiration from heaven ; and hence men have 
overlooked the steadfastness of purpose, the devo- 
tion to some single but great object, the unweari- 
ness of labor that is given, not in convulsive and 
preternatural throes, but by little and little as the 
strength of the mind may bear it, — the accumula- 
tion of many small effurts, instead of a few grand 
and gigantic but perhaps irregular movements on 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 23 

the part of energies that are marvellous. Men 
have overlooked these as being indeed the ele- 
ments to which genius owes the best and the 
proudest of her achievements. They cannot think 
that aught so utterly prosaic as patience, and 
painstaking, and resolute industry, have any share 
in the upholding of a distinction so illustrious. 
These are held to be ignoble attributes, never to 
be found among the demigods, but only among 
the drudges of literature : and it is certainly true, 
that in scholarship there are higher and lower 
walks. But still the very highest of all is a walk 
of labor. It is not by any fantastic jngglery, in- 
comprehensible to ordinary minds, and beyond 
their reach — it is not by this that the heights of 
philosophy are scaled. So said he who towei-s so 
far above all his fellows ; and whether viewed as 
an exhibition of his own modesty, or as an encour- 
agement to others, this testimony of Sir Isaac may 
be regarded as one of the most precious legacies 
that he has bequeathed to the world." 

While a student of law, Mr, Sumner wrote sev- 
eral excellent articles for the " American Jurist," 
and soon became editor of that important journal. 
After reading law for some time in the office of 
Benjamin Rand, Esq., a counsellor of Boston, he 
was admitted to the bar at Worcester, and com- 



24 M E M O I R O F 

menced tlie practice of his profession in Boston, 
in 1834. He was shortly after appointed rej^orter 
to the Circuit Court, and published three volumes 
which are known as " Sumner's Reports." For 
three successive winters after his admission to the 
bar, during the absence of Professors Greenleaf 
and Story, he lectured to the law students at Cam- 
bridge, and for some time had the sole charge of 
the Dane School. These labors he performed with 
distinguished ability, and entire satisfaction to the 
students and faculty, and while in this capacity, 
gained for himself a valuable reputation. From 
this period he speedily advanced to the front rank 
in his profession, soon became eminent as a jurist, 
and attracted the admiration of such men as Chan- 
cellor Kent, Justice Story, and other renowned 
civilians. 

In 1833, he ably and judiciously edited A Trea- 
tise on the Practice of the Courts of Admiralty 
in Civil Causes of Maritime Jurisdiction^ hy Afi- 
drew Dunlap. The valuable comments, which he 
added in the form of an appendix, contained as 
much matter as the original work. The editing of 
this treatise was undertaken in consequence of the 
illness of Mr. Dunlap, who stated on his death- 
bed that Mr. Sumner had worked over it " with 
the zeal of a sincere friend, and the accuracy of 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 25 

an excellent lawyer." Indeed, Mr. Sumner's po- 
sition in the legal world, at this time, was an en- 
viable one : he was universally regarded as a 
young lawyer of exalted talent, brilliant genius, 
and commanding eloquence. 

3 



'26 M E M O I R O F 



CHAPTER 11. 

Visit to Europe — letters of introduction — received in Enslaiid with 
marlved attention— attends tlie debates in Parliament — favorably 
received by members of the English Bar, &c.— visits Paris— writes 
a defence of the American claim to the Northeastern boundary — 
visits Italy — studies art and literature there— visits Germany — 
returns to Boston — again lectures in Cambridge— publishes an 
edition of Vesey's Eeports — delivers his oration, entitled the True 
Grandeur of Nations — Judge Story's opinion of it — eloquent pas- 
sage on the Eeign of Peace. 

In the autumn of 1837, Mr. Sumner visited Eu- 
rope, where he remained till the spring of 1840, 
enjoying superior advantages of a literarj- nature, 
and adding largely to the number of his intel- 
lectual accomplishments. 

The renowned Judge Story, who always cher- 
ished the highest regard for him, wrote a letter of 
introduction to a distinguished gentleman in Lon- 
don, in which he says : 

" Mr. Sumner is a practising lawyer at the Bos- 
ton bar, of very high reputation for his years, and 
already giving the promise of the most eminent 
distinction in his profession ; his literai-y and ju- 
dicial attainments are truly extraordinary. He is 
one of the edit;prs — indeed, the principal editor of 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 27 

the ' American Jurist,' a quarterly journal of ex- 
tensive circulation and celebrity among- us, and 
without a rival in America. He is also the re- 
porter of the court in which I preside, and has 
already published two volumes of rej^orts. His 
private character, also, is of the best kind for 
purity and propriety ; but, to accomplish himself 
more thoroughly in the great objects of his profes- 
sion, — not merely to practice, but to extend the 
boundaries in the science of law, — I am very 
anxious that he shoidd possess the means of visit- 
ing the courts of Westminster Hall un<]er favora- 
ble auspices ; and I shall esteem it a pei'sonal 
favor if you can give him any facilities in this 
particular." 

When he reached England, Mr. Sumner was 
received with marked distinction by eminent states- 
men, lawyers, and scholars. During his stay in 
England, which was nearly a year, he closely at- 
tended the debates in Parliament, and heard all 
the great speakers of the day, many of whom he 
became intimately acquainted with. His deport- 
ment was so gentlemanly, his mind so vigorous 
and accomplished, and his address so winning, 
that he became a favorite with many in the Ijest 
circles of English society. With regard to the 
pleasing qualities of Mr. Sumner in conversation, 
it has been well said, " We know not the man, 



28 M E M O I R O F 

that is more lovable, companionable, and pro- 
fitable, in social intercourse, tlian is Charles 
Sumner," 

In writing to Mr. Snmner, while enjoying such 
advantages in England, Judge Story says in a 
letter, dated August 11, 1838 : 

" I have ]-eceived all your letters, and have de- 
voured them with unspeakable delight. All the 
family have heard them read aloud, and all join 
in their expressions of pleasure. You are now 
exactly where I should wish you to be, — among 
the educated, the literary, the noble, and, though 
last, not least, the learned of England, of good old 
England, our mother-land, God bless her ! Your 
sketches of the bar and bench are deeply interest- 
ing to me, and so full that I think I can see tliem 
in my mind's eye. I must return my thanks to 
Mr. Justice Vaughan for his kindness to you ; it 
has gratified me beyond measure, not merely as 
a proof of his liberal friendship, but of his acute- 
ness and tact in the discovery of character. It is 
a just homage to your own merits. Your Old 
Bailey speech was capital, and hit, by stating 
sound truths, in the right way." 

The most flattering attentions were shown to 
Mr. Sunmer by distinguished members of the 
English bar and the bench, and while attending 
the courts at Westminster Hall, he was frequently 



HON. CHARLES SUMXER. 29 

invited by the judges to sit bj their side at the 
trials. 

" At tlie meeting of the British Scientific Asso- 
ciation, he experienced the same flattering atten- 
tions. In town and country, he moved freely in 
society, to which intelligence and refinement, 
wealth and worth, lend every charm and grace. 
Nor did the evidence of such respect and confi- 
dence pass away with his presence. Two years 
after his return from England, the Quarterly lie- 
meio, 2i\\\\(\\\\g to his visit, stepped aside to say: 
' He presents, in his own person, a decisive proof 
that an American gentleman, without official rank 
or wide-spread reputation, by mere dint of cour- 
tesy, candor, an entire absence of pretension, an 
appreciating spirit, and a cultivated mind, may 
be received on a perfect footing of equality in the 
best circles — social, political, and intellectual; 
which, be it observed, are hopelessly inaccessible 
to the itinerant note-taker, who never gets beyond 
the outskirts of the show-houses.' Eight j'ears 
later yet, he received a compliment, which, from 
an English bench, is of the rarest occurrence. On 
an insurance question, before the Court of Ex- 
chequer, one of the counsel having cited an 
American case. Baron Parke, the ablest of the 
English judges, asked him what book he quoted. 
He replied, 'Sumner's Eeports.' Baron Rolfe 
3* 



30 MEMOIROF 

said, 'Is that the Mr. Sumner who was once in 
Enoland V On receiving a rej)!}' in the affirma- 
tive, Baron Parke observed, ' We shall not con- 
sider it entitled to the less attention because re- 
ported by a gentleman whom we all knew and 
respected.' Not long ago, some of Mr. Sumner's 
estimates of war expenses were quoted by Mr. 
Cubden, in debate, in the House of Commons." 

In Paris he was received with the same cordial- 
ity as in England, and was speedily admitted to a 
familiar intercourse with the highest intellectual 
classes. 

" He attended the debates of the Chamber of 
Deputies, and the lectures of all the eminent pro- 
fessors in different departments, at the Sorbonne, 
at the College of France, and particularly in the 
Law School. lie became personally acquainted, 
with several of the most eminent jurists — with 
Baron Degerando, renowned for his works on char- 
ity ; with Pardessus, at the head of commercial 
law ; with Fadix, editor of the ' Keview of Foreign 
Jurisprudence ;' and other famous men. He at- 
tended a whole term of the Royal Court at Paris, 
observing the foi-ms of ])rocedure ; received kind- 
ness from the judges, and was allowed to peruse 
the pa^iers in the cases. His presence at some of 
these trials was noticed in the reports in the law 
journals." 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 31 

While residing in Paris, he became intimately 
acquainted with General Cass, the American min- 
ister, at whose request he wrote a masterly defence 
of the American chiim to the northeastern bound- 
ary, which was received with much favor by our 
citizens, and republished in the leading journals of 
tire day. 

In Italy, Mr. Sumner devoted himself with the 
greatest ardor to the study of art and literature, 
and read many of the best works of that classic 
land, on history, politics, and poetry. In Ger- 
many, he was also received with that high regard 
which is justly paid to distinguished talent and 
transcendent genius. Here he formed an intimate 
acquaintance with those eminent jurists, Savigny, 
Thibnut, and Mittermaier. He was kindly i _- 
ceived by Prince Mctternich, and became ac- 
quainted witli most of the professors at TT^^'idelberg, 
and with many other individuals di?tingnished in 
science and literature, as Humboldt, Ranke, Hit- 
ter, &c. 

With his mind richly stored with learning, Mr. 
Sumner returned from Europe in 1 840. On reach- 
ing Bost(»n, he met with a cordial reception, and 
immediately resumed the practice of his profession 
in his native city. He, however, did not engage 
in an extensive legal ])ractice, as his chief atten- 
tion at this time was turned to the science or lite- 



32 M E M O I R O F 

rature of the law, a subject which, to Mr. Snrnner, 
has always been invested with peculiar charms. 

Ill 1843 he again occupied the chair as lecturer 
at the Cambridge Law School. In 1844-6 he 
edited an edition of Vesey's Keports in twenty 
volumes. This was a great undertaking, but was 
ably executed. The critical and explanatory notes 
which he contributed to the work, and the bio- 
graphical sketches of eminent lawyers introduced, 
were exceedingly useful, and tended greatly to 
enhance the value of the original production. In 
noticing this work, the Boston Law JReporter 
speaks in the highest terms of the extensive pro- 
fessional resources of Mr. Sumner, and of the rare 
legal knowledge which he displayed in his editorial 
labors. It says : 

" Wherever the occasion offers itself, the edito- 
rial note has been expanded, till it assumes some- 
thing of the port and stature of a brief legal dis- 
sertation, in which the topics are discussed in the 
assured manner of one who feels that his foot is 
planted on familiar ground, and whose mind is so 
saturated with legal knowledge, that it readily 
pours it forth at the slightest pressure, reminding 
us of those first ' sijrightly runnings' of the wine- 
press extracted by no force but the mere weight 
of the grapes. Mr. Sumner has also introduced a 
new element into his notes. We allude to his bio- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 33 

graphical notes of the eminent men whose names 
occur in the reports, either in a judicial or forensic 
capacity, and to his occasional historical, political, 
and biographical illustrations of the text. In what 
may be called the literature of the law, — the curi- 
osities of legal learning — he has no rival among 
us." 

On the 4th of July, 1845, Mr. Sumner delivered 
an oration before the authorities of the city of 
Boston, entitled The true Grandeur of Nations. 
This is an admirable production, and contains 
many passages of remarkable beauty and power, 
glowing with the noblest expressions which the 
art of oratory can exhibit. It is, indeed, a won- 
drous masterpiece of eloquence, and one of Mr. 
Sumner's finest oratorical eflbrts. Moulded in 
classic beauty, elegant in diction, and abounding 
in stirring sentiments and facts, it appeals to the 
heart with irresistible force. It is hardly neces- 
sary to add, that this oration, pronounced in those 
bewitching, musical tones of voice, for which Mr. 
Sumner is so distinguished, produced an over- 
M-helming effect upon the audience, and was re- 
ceived with much applause. As an advocacy of 
the doctrine of universal peace among nations, we 
know of nothing of the kind which equals this 
eflbrt in beauty of conception, force of argument, 
and elegance of composition. Judge Story, who 



34 M E M O I R O F 

entertained clifterent views from Mr. Sumner as 
to the jnstifiableness of war in some cases, wrote 
him in reference to his oration, as follows : 

" It is certainly a very striking prodnction, and 
will fully sustain your reputation for high talents, 
various reading, and exact scholarship. There are 
a great many passages in it which are wrought 
out with an exquisite finish, and elegance of dic- 
tion, and classical beauty. I go earnestly and 
heartily along with many of your sentiments and 
opinions. They are such as beiit an exalted mind 
and an enlarged benevolence. But from the 
length and breadth of your doctrine as to w^ar, I 
am compelled to dissent. In my judgment, war 
is, under sumc (although I agree not under many) 
circumstances, nut only justifiable, but an indis- 
pensable part of public duty ; and if the reasoning 
which you have adopted be sound, it extends far 
beyond the limits to wdiicli you have now con- 
fined it. It is not, however, my intention to dis- 
cuss the matter at all with you. I am too old to 
desire or even indulge in controversy. No one 
who knows you can doubt the entire sincerity with 
which you have spoken. All that I desire to 
claim is as sincere a conviction that, in the extent 
to which you seem to press your doctrines, they 
are not, in my judgment, defensible. In many 
parts of your discourse, I have been struck with 



HON. CHAELES SUMNER. .35 

the strong resemblances which it bears to tlie 
manly enthusiasm of Sir James Mackintosh ; but 
I think that he M'oiild have differed from yuii in 
respect to war, and would have maintained a mod- 
eration of view^^, belonging at once to his philoso- 
phy and his life." 

One of the most elaborate and beautiful passages 
in this oration, is that depicting the glories of the 
universal reign of peace, which we hope is speed- 
ily to shower its blessings upon the world, and 
which at least is to prevail in the day of millen- 
nial ghjiy, when human and divine knowledge 
shall extend over the whole earth, and when nation 
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither learn 
war any more. We delight to lay before our 
readers a passage so happy in its construction, and 
at the same time so just and pleasing in its senti- 
ments : 

" That Future, which filled the lofty visions of the 
sages and bards of Greece and Rome, which was 
foretold by the prophets and heralded by the evange- 
lists, when man, in Happy Isles, or in a new Para- 
dise, shall confess the loveliness of Peace, may be 
secured by your care, if not for yourselves, at least 
for your children. Believe that you can do it, 
and you can do it. The true golden age is before 
yuu, not behind you. If man has been driven 
once from Paradise, while an angel, with a flam- 



36. MEMOIROF 

ing sword, forbade his return, there is another 
Paradise, even on earth, which lie may form for 
himself, by the cultivation of knowledge, religion, 
and the kindly virtues of life ; where the confu- 
sion of tongues shall be dissolved in the -anion of 
hearts; and joyous Nature, borrowing prolific 
charms from the prevailing Harmony, shall spread 
her lap with unimagined bounty, and there shall 
be a perpetual jocund spring, and sweet strains 
borne on ' the odoriferous wing of gentle gales,' 
through valleys of delight, more pleasant than 
the Yale of Tempe, richer than the garden of the 
Hesperides, wdth no dragon to guard its golden 
fruit. 

" Let it not be said that the age does not demand 
this work. The robber conquerors of the Past, 
from their fiery sepulchres demand it; the pre- 
cious blood of millions unjustly shed in War, cry- 
ing from the ground, demands it ; the voices of 
all good men demand it ; the conscience, even of 
the soldier, whispers ' Peace.' There are consid- 
erations, springing from our situation and condi- 
tion, which fei'vently invite us to take the lead in 
this work. Here should bend the patriotic ardor 
of the land ; the ambition of the statesman ; the 
efforts of the scholar ; the persuasive influence of 
the press; the mild persuasion of the sanctuary; 
the early teachings of the school. Here, in ampler 



HOX. CHARLES SUMNER. 37 

ether and diviner air, are untried fields fur ex- 
alted triumphs, more truly worthy the American 
name, than any snatched from rivers of blood. 
War is known as the Last Reason of Kings. Let 
it be no reason of our Republic. Let us renounce, 
and throw off forever, the yoke of a tyranny more 
oppressive than any in the annals of the world. 
As those standing on the mountain-tops first dis- 
cern the coming beams of morning, let us, from 
the vantage-ground of liberal institutions, first 
recognize the aecending sun of a new era ! Lift 
high the gates, and let the King of Glory in, — 
the King of True Glory, — of Peace. I catch the 
last words of music from the lips of innocence and 
beauty : * 

'And let the whole earth be tilled with His Glory 1' 

" It is a beautiful picture in Grecian story, that 
there was- at least one spot, the small Island of 
Delos, dedicated to the gods, and kept at all times 
sacred from War. No hostile foot ever soiiffht to 
press this kindly soil ; and the citizens of all coun- 
tries here met, in common worship, beneath the 
segis of inviolable Peace. So let us dedicate our 
beloved country; and may the blessed consecra- 



* The services of the choir at the church, where the Oration was 
delivered, were performed by the youthful daughters of the public 
schools of Boston. 



38 MEMOIR OF 

tion be felt, in all its parts, everywhere through- 
out its ample domain ! The Temple of Honor 
shall be snrroundecl, here at last, bj the Temple 
of Concord, that it may never more be entered 
thrungh any pijrtal of War ; the horn of Abun- 
dance shall overflow at its gates ; the angel of 
Religion shall be the guide over its steps of flash- 
ing adamant ; while within its enraptured courts, 
purged of Violence and Wrong, Justice, returned 
to the earth from her long exile in the skies, with 
mighty scales for IS^ations as for men, shall rear 
her serene and majestic front ; and by her side, 
greatest of all, Charity, sublime in meekness, 
hoping all and enduring all, shall divinely temper 
every righteous decree, and, with words of infinite 
cheer, shall inspire those Good Works that cannot 
vanish away. And the future chiefs of the Re- 
public, destined to ujjliold the Glories of a new 
era, unspotted by human blood, shall be ' the first 
in Peace, and the first in the hearts of their coun- 
trymen.' 

" But while seeking these blissful glories for 
ourselves, let us strive to extend them to other 
lands. Let the bugles sound the Truce of God to 
the whole world forever. Let the selfish boast of 
the Spartan women become the grand chorus of 
mankind, that they ha\'e never seen the smoke of 
an enemy's camp. Let the iron belt of martial 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 39 

music, which now encompasses the earth, be ex- 
changed for the golden cestns of Peace, clothing 
all with celestial beauty. History dwells with 
fondness on the reverent homage that was be- 
stowed, by massacring soldiers, upon the spot oc- 
cupied by the sepulchre of the Lord. Yain man ! 
to restrain his regard to a few feet of sacred mould ! 
The whole earth is the Sepulchre of the Lord ; 
nor can any righteous man profane any part 
thereof. Let us recognize this truth, and now, on 
this Sabbath of our country, lay a new stone in 
the grand Temple of Universal Peace, whose 
dome shall be as lofty as the firmament of heaven, 
as broad and comprehensive as the earth itself" 

This is certainly a finished passage, highly char- 
acteristic of Mr. Smnner, and one of the finest 
examples which his Peace orations afford for the 
study and admiration of ingenuous minds. May 
it inspire the young men of our land with a deep 
and abiding love of Peace, and lead them to cul- 
tivate the noble aflection of benevolence. 



40 M E M O I R F 



CHAPTER III. 

Spoken of as the successor of Jinlge Story in the Law School — Ee- 
marks of Story and Kent — Espouses the cause of freedom — Com- 
pared to Charles James Fox — Delivers a speech against the ad- 
mission of Texas as a slave State — Extracts from the speech. 

After the death of Judge Story, in 1845, Mr. 
Sumner was universally pointed out as his suc- 
cessor in the vacant professorship of the Law 
School, but he expressed a disinclination to accept 
the office, and consequently was not appointed. 
Such an appointment, if made, would have been 
in accordance with the Mash of Story, who had. 
frequently remarked, " I shall die content, so far 
as my professorship is concerned, if Charles Sum- 
ner is to succeed me." And here, on this point, 
we would add the opinion of another eminent ju- 
rist, Chancellor Kent, who declared that Mr. Sum- 
ner was " the onlj^ person in the country compe- 
tent to succeed Story." 

Mr. Sumner early espoused the cause of freedom 
— a cause which he has never ceased to vindicate, 
and which, to his noble, generous soul is dearer 
than life itself. Since 1845, when his political 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 41 

career may be said to have fairly comitienced, he 
has been the worthy chain pion fur oppressed hn- 
maiiity — the uncompromising ojipDnent of the in- 
stitution of slavery. 

The one grand end of his political life has been 
the same which actuated that noble British states- 
man, Charles James Fox, who expressly asserted 
that his great object was " to widen the basis of 
freedom — to infuse and circulate the spirit of lib- 
erty." From the pure fountain of liberty em- 
anated the political principles of Fox, and it has 
been said, that he drew from this source the most 
inspiring strains of his eloquence. No English 
speaker, not even Lord Chatham himself, dwelt so 
often on this theme ; no one had his generous sen- 
sibilities more completely roused; no one felt 
more strongly the need of a growing infusion of 
this spirit into the English government, as the 
great means of its strength and renovation. The 
same glorious principle, we repeat, has stirred the 
spirit of Charles Sumner, and been the occasion 
of some of his grandest efforts, and the most " in- 
spiring strains of his eloquence." 

We shall presently have occasion to lay before 
our readers some of his most forcible and eloquent 
appeals on the unspeakable evils of slavery, which, 
we fear, is destined to shake the fabric of our gov- 
ernment to its centre, and which is at present the 

4* 



4:2 MEMOIROF 

foulest blut in our national chai'acter. On the -itli 
of November, 1845, during the agitation which 
prevailed through the north, in consequence of the 
proposed annexation of Texas as a slave State, 
Mr. Sumner delivered a thrilling speech at a pub- 
lic meeting in Faneuil Hall, Boston, against such 
an admission by which the slave power would be 
so widely extended. It was a speech worthy of 
its author, and of the great principles of liberty. 
In tones of glowing eloquence the speaker ex- 
claimed : 

" I cannot banish from my view the great shame 
and wi'ong of slavery. The Judges of our courts 
have declared it to be contrary to the law of na- 
ture, finding its support only in the positive enact- 
ments ot men. Its horrors wdio can tell ? Lan- 
guage fails in the vain effort to depict them. 

" By the proposed measure, we not only become 
parties to the acquisition of a large population of 
slaves, with all the crime of slavery ; but we open 
a new market for the slaves of Virginia and the 
Carolinas, and legalize a new slave-trade. A 
new slave-trade ! Consider this well. You cannot 
forget the horrors of what is called 'the middle 
passage,' wdien the crowds of unfortunate human 
beings, stolen, and borne by sea far from their 
warm African homes, are pressed on shipboard 
into spaces of smaller dimensions for each than a 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 43 

coffin. And jet the cleadlj- consequences of this 
middle jmssage have been supposed to fall short 
of those which are sometimes undergone by the 
wretched caravans, driven from the exhausted lands 
of the JSTorthern slave States to the sugar j^lanta- 
tions nearer to the sun of the South. It is sup- 
posed that one-quarter part often perish in these 
removals. I see them, in imagination, on this pain- 
ful passage, chained in bauds or troops, and driven 
like cattle, leaving lichind "what has become to 
them a home and a country (alas ! what a home, 
and what a countiy !) — husband torn from wife, 
and parent from child, and sold anew into a more 
direful captivity. Can this take ])lace with our 
consent, nay, without our most determined opposi- 
tion? If the slave-trade is to receive a new adop- 
tion from our country', let us have no part or lot in 
it. Let us wash our hands of this great guilt. As 
we read its hori'ors, may each of us be able to ex- 
claim, WMth a conscience void of offence, 'Thou 
canst not say I did it.' Godforhid., that the votes 
and voices of the freemen of the North should 
help to hind aneio the fetter of the slave/ — God 
forbid, that the lash of the slave-dealer should he 
nerved hij any sanction from New England! 
Godforhid, that the hlood which spirts from the 
lacerated, quivering flesh of the slave, should soil 
the hem of the white garments of Massachusetts /" 



44 MEMOIROF 

The stirring a])peal to Massachusetts which oc- 
curs in this address, we trust, will never be forgot- 
ten by her patriotic sons — descendants of the Pil- 
grim Fathers, and of those whose blood moistened 
the sod of Bunker Hill, of Lexington, of Concord, 
and of many a well-fought battle-field. 

" Let Massachusetts, then, be aroused. Let all 
her children be summoned to join in this holy 
cause. There are questions of ordinary politics in 
which men may remain neutral ; but neutrality 
now is* treason to liberty, to humanity, and to the 
fundamental principles of our free institutions. 
Let her united voice, with the accumulated echoes 
of freedom that fill this ancient Hall, go forth with 
comfort and cheer to all who labor in the same 
cause everywhere throughout the land. Let it 
help to confirm the wavering, and to reclaim those 
who have erred from the right path. Especially 
may it exert a proper influence in Congress upon 
the representatives of the free States. May it 
serve to make them as firm in the defence of free- 
dom as their opponents are pertinacious in the 
cause of slavery. 

" Let Massachusetts continue to be known as 
foremost in the cause of freedom ; and let none of 
her children yield to the fatal dalliance with slave- 
ry. You will remember the Arabian story of the 
magnetic mountain, under whose irresistible attrac- 



H O X . CHARLES S U -M X E R . 45 

tion the iron bolts which held together the strong 
timbere of a stately ship were drawn out, till the 
whole fell apart, and became a disjointed wreck. 
Do we not find in this storj an image of what 
happens to many Northern men, under the potent 
magnetism of Southern companionship or Southern 
influence? Those principles, which constitute the 
individuality of the Northern character, which 
render it staunch, strong, and seaworthj-, which 
bind it together, as with iron, are drawn out one 
by one, like the bolts from the ill-fated vessel, and 
out of the miserable loosened fragments is formed 
that human anomaly — a Northern nnan with 
Southern princij)les. Such a man is no true son 
of Massachusetts. '''' 



46 MEMOIROF 



CHAPTER IV. 

Pronounces an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Har- 
vard University — beautiful extracts — sentiment of John Qiiincy 
Adams — delivers a speech on the anti-slavery duties of the Whig 
party — glowing passages from this speech — delivers a brilliant 
lecture on white slavery in the Barbary States. 

On the 27tli of August, 1846, Mr. Sumner de- 
livered an oration before tlie Plii Beta Kappa So- 
ciety of Harvard University, entitled The Scholar, 
the Jurist, the Artist^ the Philanthropist, in which 
we have toncliing and eloqnent tributes to tlie 
memory of John Pickering, the scholar; Joseph 
Story, the jurist ; Washington Allston, the artist ; 
William Ellery Channing, the philanthroj)ist. 
This beautiful oration, which is well worthy the 
study of the student and admirer of eloquence, as 
well as the lover of law, art, and literature, con- 
cludes in the following lofty strains : 

" Thus have I attempted, hunib''' and affection- 
ately, to bring before you the images of our de- 
parted brothers, while I dwelt on the great causes 
in which their lives were made manifest. Ser- 
vants of Knowledge, of Justice, of Beauty, of Love, 
they have ascended to the great Source of Know- 



HON. CHAELES SUMNER. 47 

lege, Justice, Beantj, Love. Each of our brothers 
is removed ; but though dead, yet speaketh, in- 
forming our understandings, strengtliening our 
sense of justice, refining our tastes, enhxrging our 
sympathies. The body dies; but the page of the 
scholar, the interpretation of the jurist, the crea- 
tion of the artist, the beneficence of the phihm- 
thropist, cannot die. 

" 1 have dwelt upon their lives and characters, 
less in grief for what we have lost, than in grati- 
tude for what we so long possessed, and still re- 
tain in their precious example. In proud recol- 
lection of her departed childi-eu, Alma Mater 
might well exclaim, in those touching woi'ds of 
parental grief, that she would not give her dead 
sons f(jr any living sons in Christendom. Picker- 
ing, Channing, Story, Allston ! A grand Quater- 
nion ! Each, in his peculiar sphere, was foremost 
in-his country. Each might have said, what the 
modesty of Demosthenes did not forbid him to 
boast, that, through him, his country had been 
crowned abroad. Their labors were wide as the 
Coinmonwealtli ioY Letters, Laws, Art, Humanit}^, 
and have found acceptance wherever these have 
dominion. 

" Their lives, which overflow with instruction, 
teach one persuasive lesson, which spea,ks alike to 
all of every calling and pursuit, — not to live for 



48 MEMOIROF 

ourselves alone. They lived for knowledge, jus- 
tice, beauty, humanity. Withdrawing from the 
strifes of the world, from the allurements of office, 
and the rage for gain, they consecrated themselves 
to the pursuit of excellence, and each, in his own 
vocation, to beneficent labor. They were all 
philanthropists ; for the labors of all promoted the 
welfare and happiness of mankind. 

" In the contemplation of their generous, un- 
selfish lives, we feel the insignificance of office 
and wealth, which men so hotly pursue. What 
is office ? and what is wealth ? They are the ex- 
pressions and representatives of what is present 
and fleeting only, investing their possessor, per- 
haps, with a brief and local regard. But let this 
not be exaggerated ; let it not be confounded with 
the serene fame which is the reflection of impor- 
tant labors in great causes. The street lights, 
within the circle of their nightly scintillation, 
Beem to outshine the distant stars, observed of men 
in all lands and times ; but gas-lamps are not to 
be mistaken for the celestial luminaries. They 
who live only for wealth, and the things of this 
world, follow shadows, neglecting the great reali- 
ties which are eternal on earth and in heaven. 
After the perturbations of life, all its accumulated 
possessions must be resigned, except those alone 
which have been devoted to God and mankind. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 49 

"What we do for ourselves, perishes with this 
mortal dust ; what we do for others, lives in the 
grateful hearts of all who know or feel the bene- 
faction. Worms may destroy the body ; but they 
cannot consume such a fame. It is fondly cher- 
ished on earth, and never forgotten in heaven. 

" The selfish struggles of the crowd, the clamors 
of a false patriotism, the suggestions of a sordid 
ambition, cannot obscure that great commanding 
duty, which enjoins perpetual labor^ without dis- 
tinction of country, of color, or of race, for. the 
welfare of the whole human family. In this 
mighty Christian cause,' knowledge, jurispru- 
dence, art, philanthropy, all are blessed minis- 
ters. More puissant than the sword, they shall 
lead mankind from the bondage of error into that 
service which is perfect freedom : 

' Ha3, tibi erunt artes, poQisque einponere morem.''* 

" Our departed brothers join in summoning you 
to this gladsome obedience. Their examples speak 
far them. Go forth into the many mansions of the 
house of life ; scholars ! store them with learning; 
— ^jurists ! build them with justice — artists ! adorn 
them with beauty — philanthropists ! let them re- 

* Jineid, VI., 852.— Dryden, translating this passage, introduces 
a duty whioh Virgil omits : 

"The fettered slave set free, 
These are imperial arts, and worthy thee !" 
5 



50 MEMOIROF 

sound with love. Be servants of truth, each in his 
vocation ; doers of the word and not hearers only. 
Be sincere, pure in heart, earnest, enthusiastic. 
A virtuous enthusiasm is always self-forgetful and 
noble. It is the only inspiration now vouchsafed 
to man. Like Pickering, blend humility with 
learning. Like Story, ascend above the present, 
in place and time. Like Allston, regard fame 
only as the eternal shadow of excellence. Like 
Channing, bend in adoration before the right. 
Cultivate alike the wisdom of experience and the 
wisdom of hope. Mindful of the future, do not 
neglect the past ; awed by the majesty of antiqui- 
ty, turn not with indiiference from the future. 
True wisdom looks to the ages before us, as well 
as behind us. Like the Janus of the Capitol, one 
front thoughtfully regards the past, rich with ex- 
perience, with memories, with the priceless tradi- 
tions of virtue ; the other is earnestly directed to 
the All Hail Hereafter, richer still with its tran- 
scendent hopes and unfulfilled prophecies. 

" We stand on the threshold of a new age, 
which is preparing to recognize new influences. 
The ancient divinities of violence and wrong are 
retreating to their kindred darkness. The sun of 
our moral universe is entering a new eclij)tic, no 
longer deformed by those images of animal rage. 
Cancer, Taurus, Leo, Sagittarius, but beaming 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 51 

with mild radiance of those heavenly signs, Faith, 
Hope, and Charity : 

' There's a fount about to stream, 
There's a light about to beam, 
There's a warmth about to glow, 
There's a flower about to blow ; 
There's a midnight blackness changing 

Into gray ; 
Men of thought, and men of action, 
Clear the way. 

* Aid the dawning, tongue aud pen ; 
Aid it, hopes of honest men ; 
Aid it, paper ; aid it, type ; 
Aid it, for the hour is ripe, 
And our earnest must not slacken 

Into play ; 
Men of thought, and men of aoti jn, 
Clear the way? 

" The age of chivalry has gone. An age of hu- 
manity has come. The horse, whose importance, 
more than human, gave the name to that early 
period of gallantry and war, now yields his fore- 
most place to man. In serving bim, in promoting 
his elevation, in contributing to his welfare, in do- 
ing him good, there are fields of bloodless triuin])]i, 
nobler far than any in which Bayard or Du Gues- 
clin ever conquered. Here are spaces of labor, 
wide as the world, lofty as heaven. Let me say, 
then, in the benison once bestowed upon the 
youthful knight, — Scholars ! jurists ! artists ! phi- 
lanthropists ! heroes of a Christian age, compan- 
ions of a celestial knighthood, ' Go forth, be bravo, 
loyal, and successful !' 



52 MEMOIROF 

"And may it be our office to-day to light a 
fresh beacon-fii-e on the venerable walls of Har- 
vard, sacred to Truth, to Christ, and the Church,* 
■ — to Truth Immortal, to Christ, the Comforter, to 
the Holy Church Universal. Let the flame spread 
from steeple to steeple, from hill to hill, from island 
to island, from continent to continent, till the long 
lineage of fires shall illumine all the nations of the 
earth ; animating them to the holy contests of 
knowledge, justice, beauty, love." 

The beautiful sentiment of John Quincy Adams, 
proposed at a festival after the delivery of this 
oration, will, perhaps, occur to the mind of the 
reader : — " Tlie memory of the scholar, the jurist, 
the artist, and the philanthropist ; and not the 
memory, but the long life of the kindred spirit 
who has this day embalmed them all." A very 
appropriate sentiment for so splendid an effort. 

On the 23d of September, 1846, Mr. Sumner 
delivered a speech of thrilling power and elo- 
quence, before the Whig State Convention, at Fa- 
neuil Hall, in Boston, on the Anti-Slavery duties 
of the Whig Party. In this speech he boldly 
says : 

" The time, I believe, has gone by, when the 
question is asked. What has the North to do with 

* The legend on tlie early seal of Harvard University was Veritas. 
Tlio present legend is Ck)-lsto et EccUsim. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 53 

Slavery ? It might almost be answered, that, po- 
litically, it had little to do with any thing else, so 
are all the acts of onr government connected, di- 
rectly or indirectly, "^dth this institution. Slavery 
is everywhere. It constitutionally enters the halls 
of Congress, in the disproportionate representation 
of the slave States. It shows its disgusting front 
in the District of Columbia, in the shadow of the 
capitol, under the legislative jurisdiction of the 
nation ; of the north as well as the south. It sends 
its miserable victims on the high seas, from the 
ports of Virginia to the ports of Louisiana, beneath 
the protecting flag of the Eepublic. It follows 
into the free States, in pursuance of a provision of 
the Constitution, those fugitives, who, under the 
inspiration of freedom, seek our altars for safety ; 
nay, more, with profane hands it seizes those who 
have never known the name of slave, colored free- 
men of the north, and dooms them to irremediable 
bondage. It insults and exiles from its jurisdiction 
the honored representatives of Massachusetts, who 
seek, as messengers of the Commonwealth, to se- 
cure for her colored citizens the peaceful safeguard 
of the laws of the Union. It not only uses tlie 
Constitution for its purposes, but abuses it also. It 
violates the Constitution at pleasure, to build up 
new slaveholding States. It seeks perpetually to 
widen its arena, while professing to extend the 
5» 



54 M E M O I R O f ■ 

arena of freedom. By tlie spirit of union among 
its supporters, it controls the afFaii's of government ; 
interferes with the cherished interests of the north, 
enforcing and then refusing protection to her manu- 
factures ; makes and unmakes presidents ; usurps 
to itself the larger portion of all offices of honor 
and profit, both in the army and navy, and also in 
the civil department ; and stamps upon our whole 
country, the character, before the world, of that 
monstrous anomaly and mockery, a slameliolding 
rejniblic^ with the living truths of freedom on its 
lips, and the dark mark of slavery printed on its 
brow." * * * " It will not be questioned by 
any competent authority, that Congress may, by 
express legislation, abolish slavery, 1st, in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; 2d, in the territories, if there 
should be any ; 3d, that it may abolish the slave- 
trade on the high seas between the States ; 4th, 
that it may refuse to admit any new State, with a 
constitution sanctioning slavery. ISTor can it be 
questioned that the people of the United States 
may, in the manner pointed out by the Constitu- 
tion, proceed to its amendment. It is, then, by 
constitutional legislation, and even by an amend- 
ment of the Constitution, that slavery may be 
reached. 

'* And here the question arises, are there any 
compromises in the Constitution of such a charac- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 55 

ter as to prevent action on this subject ? The word 
covvprmnises is invoked by many honest minds as 
the excuse for not joining in this cause. Let me 
meet this question frankly and fairly. It is said 
that the Constitution of the United States was the 
result of a compromise between the free and the 
slave States, which it would be contrary to good 
faith to break. To this it might be replied, that 
the slave States, by their many violations of the 
Constitution, have already overturned all the ori- 
ginal compromises, if there were any of a per- 
petual character. But I do not content myself 
with this answer. I wish to say, distinctly, that 
there is no compromise on the subject of slavery, 
of a character not to be reached legally cmd con- 
siitutionally^ which is the only way in which I 
propose to reach it. Wherever power and jm'is- 
diction are secured to Congress, they may unques- 
tionably be exercised in conformity with the Con- 
stitution. And even in matters beyond existing 
powers and jurisdiction, there is a constitutional 
method of action. The Constitution contains an 
article pointing out how, at any time, amendments 
may be made thereto. This is an important ele- 
ment, giving to the Constitution a progressiA)e char- 
acter ; and allowing it to be moulded to suit new 
exigencies and new conditions of feeling. The 
wise framers of this instrument did not treat the 



56 MEMOIROF 

coimtrj as a Chinese foot — never to grow after its 
infancy — but anticipated the changes incident to 
its growth. ' Provided^ that no amendment which 
may be made prior to the year 1808 shall in any man- 
ner afiect tlie 1st and ttth clauses, in the 9th section 
of the 1st ai'ticlc, and that no State, without its con- 
sent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
Senate.' These are the words of the Constitution. 
They expressly designate what shall be sacred from 
amendment, what compromises shall be perpetual ; 
and in doing so, according to a familial* rule of 
law and of natural logic, virtually declare that the 
remainder of tlie Constitution may be amended. 
Already, since its adoption, twelve amendments 
have been made, and every year produces new 
projects. It has been pressed on the floor of Con- 
gress to abrogate the power of the veto, and also 
to limit the tenure of office of the President. Let 
it be distinctly understood, then, and this is my an- 
swer to the suggestion of binding compromises, 
that, in conferring upon Congress certain s}>ecified 
powers and jurisdiction, and also in providing for 
the amendment of the Constitution, its framei-s ex- 
pressly established the means for setting aside what 
are vaguely called the compromises of the Consti- 
tution. They openly declare, ' Legislate, as you 
please, in conformity with the Constitution ; and 
even make amendments in this instrmnent, ren- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 57 

dered proper by change of opinion or character 
following always the manner therein prescribed.' 

" Nor can we dishonor the memories of the 
revered authors of the Constitution, by supposing 
that they set their hands to it, believing that 
slavery was to be jperpetual — that the republic, 
which, reared by them to its giant stature, had 
snatched from heaven the sacred fire of freedom, 
was to be bound, like another Prometheus, in the 
adamantine chains of fate, while slavery, like 
another vulture, preyed upon its vitals. Let 
Franklin speak for them. He was President of 
the earliest 'Abolition Society' in the United 
States, and in 1790, only two years after the 
adoption of the Constitution, addressed a petition 
to Congress, calling upon them ' to step to the . 
very verge of the power vested in them for dis- 
couraging eveiy species of traffic in our fellow- 
men.' Let Jefferson speak for them. His desire 
for the abolition of slavery was often expressed 
with philanthropic warmth and emphasis. Let 
"Washington speak for them. 'It is among my 
first wishes,' he said, in a letter to John Fenton 
Mercer, 'to see some plan adopted by which 
slavery in this country may he abolished hy law? 
And in his will, penned with his o\vn hand, in 
the last year of his life, he bore his testimony 
again, by providing for the emancipation of al^ 



^^7 



58 MEMOIROF 

his slaves. It is thus that Washington speaks, 
not only by words, but by actions louder than 
words, ' Give freedom to your slaves.' The father 
of his country requires, as a token of the filial 
piety which all profess, that his example should 
be followed. I am not insensible to the many 
glories of his character ; but I cannot contemplate 
this act, without a fresh gush of admiration and 
gratitude. The martial scene depicted on that 
votive canvas may fade from the memories of 
men ; but this act of justice and benevolence 
shall never jDerish : 

' Et inagis, magisque viri nunc gloria claret.' " 

On the 17th of February, 1847, Mr. Sumner 
delivered a brilliant lecture before the Boston 
Mercantile Library Association, entitled White 
Slavery in tlie Barhar^y States^ in which he de- 
picts, in glowing colors, the horrors of that revolt- 
ing custom of stealing and reducing white men to 
wretched and hopeless bondage, which so long 
prevailed in that unhappy country. This lecture 
is an extremely interesting one, and is full of 
startling facts and shocking details of cruelty. It 
is the production of a rijje scholar and a noble 
philanthrojjist, and should be studied by every 
free citizen who values the blessings of liberty. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 59 



CHAPTER V. 

Pronounces an Oration before the Literary Societies of Amherst 
College — extracts — delivers an oration before the Phi Beta Kappa 
Society of Union College— splendid passages from this address — 
makes a speech before the Whig State Convention of Massachu- 
setts, at Springfield — forcible passages quoted from this address — 
remarks. 

On the 11th of August, 1847, Mr. Sumner pro- 
nounced a beautiful oration before the Literary 
Societies of Amherst College, on Fame and Glory ^ 
in which we have unanswerable arguments on the 
superior honors of peace. This subject was con- 
genial to Mr. Sumner, and was ably and elo- 
quently handled by him. In setting forth the 
common ideas of fame and glory, which have 
long prevailed among several nations, he says : 

" It appears from the early literature of Sj^ain, 
where chivalry found a favorite haunt, that bru- 
tality, assassination, and murder were often ac- 
counted glorious, and that adventure in robbery 
and promptitude in vengeance were favorite feats 
of heroism. The Life of the Yaliaut Cespedez, a 
Spanish knight of high renown, by Lope de Vega, 
reveals a succession of exploits, wliich were the 



60 MEMOIROF 

performances of a brawny jwrter and a bully. 
All the jiassious of a rude nature were gratified at 
will. Sanguinary revenge and inhuman harsh- 
ness were his honorable piu-suit. With a furious 
blow of his clenched fist, in the very palace of the 
Emperor at Augsburg, he knocked out the teeth 
of a heretic, — an achievement which was hailed 
with honor and congratulation by the Duke of 
Alva, and by his master, Charles the Fifth. Thus 
did a Spanish gentleman acquire Fame in the 
sixteenth centurj^ !* 

" Such have been some of the objects of praise 
in other places and times. Such has been the 
glory achieved. Men have always extolled those 
characters and acts, which, according to their 
knowledge or ignorance, they were best able to 
ai^preciate. jN"or does this rule fail in its applica- 
tion to our day. The ends of pursuit vary still, in 
dififerent parts of the globe and among dififerent 
persons ; and Fame is awarded, in some places or 
by some persons, to conduct which elsewhere or 
by others is regarded as barbarous. The Korth 
American savage commemorates the chief who is 
able to hang at the door of his wigwam a heavy 
string of scalps, the spoils of war. The New 
Zealander honors the sturdy champion who slays 
and then eats his enemies. The cannibal of the 

* Sismondi's Literature of the South of Europe, vol. iv. pp. 5-19. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 61 

Feejee Islands— only recently explored by an ex- 
pedition from oiu- shores — is praised for his adroit- 
ness in lying; for the dozen men he has killed 
with his own hand; for his triumphant capture, 
in battle, of a piece of tapa-cloth attached to a 
staff, not unlike one of our flags ; and when he is 
dead, his club is placed in his hand, and extended 
across the breast, to indicate in the next world 
that the deceased was a chief and a warrior * 
This is barbarous glory ! But among the nations 
professing Christianity, in our day, there is a 
powerful public opinion which yields honor to 
conduct from which we turn with disgust, as we 
discern it among the savages of our forest, or the 
eannibals of the Pacific. Tlie triumphs of animal 
strength and of brutish violence are hailed as 
worthy sources of renown. With a perverse in- 
sensibility to the relative value of different ser- 
vices, the chances and incidents of war are ex- 
alted above all the pui-suits of peace. Victors, 
from a field moistened with a murdered brother's 
blood, are greeted with the grateful salutations 
that are justly due to those only who have tri- 
umphantly fulfilled the commandments on which 
hang all the law and the j^rophets. * ^ * 
" The same mortification and regret with which 

* Narrative of the United States Exploring Kxpedition, vol. iii. 
pp. 76, 80, 08. 

6 



62 MEMOIROF 

we regard the dismal contest between the brothers 
of one household, the kinsmen of one ancestry, the 
citizens of one country, must attend the contem- 
plation of every scene of strife ; for are we not 
all^ in a just and Christian sense, brethren of one 
household, kinsmen of one ancestry, citizens of one 
coimtry — the world? It is clear, then, that no 
success in arms against our fellow-men — no triumph 
over brothers, who are flesh of our flesh and bone 
of our bone — no destruction of the life which God 
has given to his children — no assault upon his 
sacred image in the upright form and countenance 
of man — no effiision of the blood of any human 
being, under whatever apology of necessity it may 
he vindicated, can be the foundation of Christian 
Fame."* 

On the 25th of July, 1848, Mr. Sumner delivered 
another glowing oration before the Phi Beta Kappa 
Society of Union College, Schenectady, entitled 
The Law of Human Progress. Presenting a his- 
tory, recognition, and vindication of the great doc- 
trine of the progress of the human race, this dis- 
course displays in an admirable manner the exten- 

* Ah ! little did Mr. Sumner imagine, while uttering these truth- 
ful words, that he himself was to be the subject of a personal assault, 
as violent, cowardly, and brutal as has ever been committed in a 
legislative body in ancient or modern times— an outrage so inhuman 
that it utterly shocks the sensibilities of our nature, and one per- 
petrated, too, in the middle of the nineteenth century, in the Ameri- 
can capital, and in the land of boasted freedom ! 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 63 

sive learning of its author, and the skill with which 
he employs his intellectual ti-easui-es to the attain- 
ment of the grand object in view. In speaking of 
the ancient and modern standards of civilization, 
he says, with much beauty and force : 

" Without here undertaking to decide the ques- 
tion of the supremacy of Greek or Roman genius, 
as displayed in indi\-idnal minds, it would be easy 
to show, that the ancient standard of ci\dlization 
never reached the heights of many modern States. 
The people were ignorant, vicious, and poor, or de- 
graded to abject slavery — slavery itself the sum 
of all injustice and all vice. And even the most 
illustrious characters, whose names still shine from 
that distant night with stellar brightness, were little 
more than splendid barbarians. Architectm-e, 
sculpture, painting, and vases of exquisite perfec- 
tion, attested their appreciation of the beauty of 
form ; but they were strangers to the useful arts, 
as well as to the comforts and virtues of home. 
Abounding in what to us are luxuries of life, they 
had not what to us are its necessaries. 

" Without knowledge there can be no sure Pro- 
gress. Yice and barbarism are the inseparable 
companions of ignorance. Nor is it too much to 
say, that, except in rare instances, the highest vir- 
tue is attained only through intelligence. And 
this is natm-al ; for in order to do right, we must 



64 MEMOIROF 

first understand what is right. But the people of 
Greece and Rome, even in the brilliant days of 
Pericles and Augustus, were unable to arrive at 
this knowledge. The sublime teachings of Plato 
and Socrates — calculated in many respects to pro- 
mote the best interests of the race — were restrained 
in their influence to the small company of listeners, 
or to the few who could obtain a copy of the costly 
manuscript in which they were preserved. Thus 
the knowledge and virtue, acquired by individuals, 
failed to be diffused in their own age or secured to 
posterity. 

" But now at last, through an agency all unknown 
to antiquity, knowledge of every kind has become 
general and permanent. It can no longer be con- 
fined to a select circle. It cannot be crushed by 
tyranny or lost by neglect. It is immortal, as the 
soul from w^hich it proceeds. This alone renders 
all relapse into barl^arism impossible, w^hile it af- 
fords an unquestionable distinction between An- 
cient and Modern Times. The Press, watchful 
with more than the hundred eyes of Argus — strong 
with more than the hundred arms of Briareus — not 
only guards all the conquests of civilization, but 
leads the way to future triumphs. Through its un- 
tiring energies, the meditations of the closet, or 
the utterances of the human voice, which else 
would die away within the precincts of a narrow 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 65 

room, are prolonged to the most distant nations 
and times, with winged words circling the globe. 
"We admire the genius of Demosthenes, of Sopho- 
cles, of Plato, and of Phidias ; but the printing- 
press is a higher gift to man than the eloquence, 
the di'ama, the philosophy, and the art of Greece." 

Farther on in this address we have another pas- 
sage which happily illustrates the subject: 

" Look at the cradles of the nations and races 
which have risen to grandeur, and learn from the 
barbai'ous wretchedness by which they were origin- 
ally surrounded, that no lot can be removed from 
the influence of the Law of Progress. The Fee- 
jee Islander, the Bushman, the Hottentot, the 
Congo negro cannot be too low for its care. 'No 
term of imagined ' finality ' can arrest it. The 
polished Briton, whose civilization we now admire, 
is a descendant, perhaps, of one of those painted 
barbarians, whose degradation still lives in the 
pages of Julius Caesar. Slowly and by degrees, 
he has reached the position where he now stands ; 
but he cannot be stayed here. The improvement 
of the Past is the earnest of still further improve- 
ment in the long ages of the Future. And who can 
dou.bt, that, in the lapse of time, as the Christian Law 
is gradually fulfilled, the elevation which tlie Briton 
may attain will be shared by all his fellow-men? 

" The signs of improvement may appear at a 
6* 



66 MEMOIROF 

special period — in a limited circle onlj — among 
the people favored of God, who have enjoyed the 
peculiar benefits of commerce and of Christianity ; 
but the blessed influence cannot be restrained to 
any time, to any place, or to any people. Every 
victory over evil redounds to the benefit of all. 
Every discovery, ever humane thought, every truth, 
when declared, is a conquest of which the whole 
human family are partakers. It extends by so 
much their dominion, while it lessens by so much 
the sphere of their future struggles and trials. 
Thus it is, while nature is always the same, the 
power of Man is always increasing. Each day 
gives him some new advantage. The mountains 
have not grown in size ; but man has broken 
through their passes. The winds and waves are 
capricious ever, as when they first beat upon the 
ancient Silurian rocks ; but the steamboat, 

'Against the wind, against the tide, 
Now steadies on with upright keel.' 

" Tlie distance between two places upon the sur- 
face of the globe is the same to-day, as when the 
continents were first heaved from their ocean bed ; 
but the inhabitants can now, by the art of man, 
commune together. Much still remains to be 
done ; but the Creator did not speak in vain, when 
he blessed his earliest children, and bade them to 
multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it." 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 67 

The oration concludes witli the following words 
of consolation and advice, which individuals and- 
nations would do well to regard : 

" And, finally, let a confidence in the Progress 
of our race be, under God, our constant faith. Let 
the sentiments of loyalitj, earth-born, which once 
lavished itself on King or Emperor, give place to 
that other sentiment, heaven-born, of devotion to 
Humanity. Let Loyalty to one Man be exchanged 
for Love to Man. And be it our privilege to ex- 
tend these sacred infiuences throughout the land. 
So shall we open to our country new fields of 
peaceful victories, which shall not want the sym- 
pathies and gratulations of the good citizen, or the 
praises of the just historian. Go forth, then, my 
country, ' conquering and to conquer,' not by 
brutish violence ; not by force of arms ; not, oh ! 
not, on dishonest fields of blood ; but in the ma- 
jesty of Peace, of Justice, of Freedom, by the ir- 
resistible might of Christian Institutions." 

At Springfield, September 29, 1847, Mr. Sum- 
ner made a powerful speech at the Whig State 
Convention of Massachusetts, on Political Action 
against the Slave Power and the Extension of 
Slavery. In this address we find the following 
just and noble sentiments, which are well worthy 
of the serious consideration of all American citi- 
zens, north and south : 



68 M E M O I R O F 

" And is not strange, Mr, President, that we, in 
tliis nineteenth century of the Christian era — in a 
country whose earliest charter declares that ' All 
men are born equal' — under a Constitution, one of 
whose express objects is, ' to secure the blessings 
of liberty' — is it not passing strange, that we should 
be now occupied in considering how best to pre- 
vent the ojjening of new markets in human flesh ? 
Slavery, which has been expelled from distant 
despotic States, seeks shelter here by the altars of 
freedom. Alone in the company of nations does 
our country assume the championship of this hate- 
ful institution. Far away in the East, at ' the 
gateways of the day,' by the sacred waters of the 
Ganges, in effeminate India, Slavery has been con- 
demned; in Constantinople, the queenly seat of 
the most powerful Mahomedan empire, where bar- 
barism still mingles with civilization, the Ottoman 
Sultan has fastened ujDon it the stigma of disappro- 
bation ; the Barbary States of Africa have been 
changed into Abolitionists ; from the imtutored 
ruler of Morocco comes the expression of his desire, 
stamped in the formal terms of a treaty, that the 
very name of Slavery may jDerish from the minds 
of men ; and only recently, from the Dey of Tunis 
has proceeded that noble act, by which, ' In honor 
of God, and to distinguish man from the brute 
creation' — I quote his own words— he decreed its 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 69 

total abolition throughout his dominions. Let 
Christian America be willing to be taught by 
these despised Mahomedans. God forbid that 
our republic — ' heir of all the ages, foremost in the 
files of time, — should adopt anew the barbarism 
and cruelty which they have renounced or con- 
demned ! 

"The early conduct of our fathers, at the time 
of the formation of the Constitution, should be 
our guide now. On the original suggestion of Jef- 
ferson, subsequently sustained and modified by 
others, a clause was introduced into the funda- 
mental law of the Korthwest Territory, by virtue 
of which Slavery has been forever excluded from 
that extensive region. This act of wisdom and 
justice is a source of prosperity and pride to 
the millions who now live beneath its influence. 
And shall we be less true to the principles of free- 
dom than the authors of that instrument ? Their 
spirits encourage us to constant and uncompromis- 
ing devotion to its cause. With the promptings 
from their example may properly mingle the 
words of that evangelist of Liberty, Lafayette, 
who, though born on a foreign soil, by his earnest 
labors, by his blood shed in our cause, by the 
friendship of Washington, by the gratitude of 
every American heart, is enrolled among the pa- 
triots and fathers of tlie land. His opinions of 



70 MEMOIROF 

Slavery have only recently been revealed to the 
world. From the pen of the philanthropist, Clark- 
son, we learn that his amiable nature was s}>ecially 
roused on this subject. ' He was a real gentle- 
man,' says Clarkson, ' and of soft and gentle man- 
ners. I have seen him put out of temper, but 
never at any time except when Slavery was the 
subject.' To Clarkson, Lafayette said expressly, 
' I loould never have drawn my swm'd in the 
cause of America^ if I coidd have conceived that 
thereby I was founding a land of slavery? Shall 
we, whom his sword helped to make free, now 
found a new land of Slavery ? * * * 

" "With every new extension of Slavery, fresh 
strength is imparted to the political influence, 
monstrous offspring of Slavery, known as the 
Slave Power. This influence, beyond any other 
under our government, has deranged our institu- 
tions. To this the great evils which have afflicted 
the country — ^the diflerent perils to the Constitu- 
tion — may all be traced. The Missouri Compro- 
mise, the annexation of Texas, the war M'ith Mex- 
ico, are only a portion of the troubles caused by 
the Slave Power. It is an ancient ftible, that the 
eruptions of Etna were produced by the restless 
movements of the giant Enceladus, who was im- 
prisoned beneath. As he turned on his side, or 
stretched his limbs, or struggled, the conscious 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 71 

mountain belched forth flames, fiery cinders, and 
red-hot lava, carrying destruction and dismay to 
all who dwelt upon its fertile slopes. The Slave 
Power is the imprisoned giant of our Constitution. 
It is there confined and bound to the earth. But 
its constant and strenuous struggles have caused, 
and ever will cause, eruptions of evil to our happy 
country, in comparison with which, the flames, the 
fiery cinders, and the red-hot lava of the volcano 
are trivial and transitory. Tlie face of nature may 
be blasted — the land may be struck with sterility 
— villages may be swept by floods of flame, and 
whole families entombed alive in its burning em- 
brace ; bvit all these evils shall be small by the 
side of the deep, abiding, unutterable curse of a'' 
act of national wrong. 

" Let us, then, pledge ourselves, in the most so\. 
emn form, by united exertions, at least to restrain 
this destructive influence within its original con- 
stitutional bounds. Let us, at all hazards, prevent A 
the extension of slavery, and the strengthoning of , 
the Slave Power. Our opposition must keep ; 
right on, and not look back : 

-' Like the Pontic sea, 



Whose icy current and compulsive course 
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on 
To the Propontic and the Hellespont.' 

In this contest, let us borrow from the example of 
the ancient Greek, who, when his hands were cut 



72 MEMOIROF 

off, fought with his stumps, and even with his 
teeth. Let us borrow from the example of the 
slaveholders themselves, who are united and un- 
compromising in their unholy cause. Let us strug- 
gle for Freedom as earnestly as they struggle for 
Slavery. Let us rally under our white pavilion, 
resplendent with the troj)hies of Justice, Freedom, 
and Humanity, as enthusiastically as they troop 
together beneath their black flag, pictured over 
with whips, chains, and manacles." 

Should not such language stir up every freeman 
of the ISTorth to contend against an evil which has 
so long tarnished this Republic, and disgraced the 
name of Christian America ? Shall we of the 
IS^orth tamely suffer the slave power to encroach 
and trample upon us, or shall we arise, and with 
united voice declare of that dark ocean of evil 
whose flood tide has been impelled over free soil, 
Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther ; and 
here shall thy p-oud waves be stayed ? Freemen 
of the North, it is for you to answer this momen- 
tous question. Awake, then, and declare, in fear- 
less and determined tones, that the soil of that 
portion of our country which has not yet been sul- 
lied by slavery, shall be fkee forever. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 73 



CHAPTER VI. 

Delivers a Speech in a Mass Convention at Worcester, Massachu- 
setts — extracts — delivers an address before the American Peace 
Society in Boston — admiraljle passages quoted from this eifort — 
remarks, &c. 

In a Mass Convention at Worcester, Mass., June 
28, 1848, Mr. Sumner made an able speech. For 
union among men of all parties against the Slave 
power and the extension of Slavery, in which he 
says : 

" As I reflect upon the transactions in which we 
are now engaged, I am reminded of an incident in 
French liistory. It was late in the night, at "Ver- 
sailles, that a courtier of Louis XVI., penetrating 
the bed-chamher of his master, and arousing him 
from his slumbers, communicated to him the in- 
telligence — big with gigantic destinies — that the 
people of Paris, smarting under wrong and false- 
hood, had risen in their might, and, after a severe 
contest with the hireling troops, destroyed the Bas- 
tile. The unhappy monarch, turning upon his 
couch, said, 'It is an insurrection.'* 'Wo, Sire,' 
was the reply of the honest courtier, 'it is a revo- 

7 



74 MEMOIR OF 

lution.^ And such is our movement to-day. It 
is a Revolution— not beginning with the destruc- 
tion of a Bastile, but destined to end only with the 
overthrow of a .tyranny, differing little in hardship 
and audacity from that which sustained the Bas- 
tile of France — I mean the Slave Power of the 
United States. Let not people start at this simili- 
tude. I intend no unkindness to individual slave- 
holders, many of whom are doubtless humane and 
honest. And such was Louis XYI. ; and yet he 
sustained the Bastile, with the untold horrors of its 
dmigeons, where human beings were thrust into 
companionship with toads and rats. 

" By the Slave Power, I understand that com- 
bination of j^ersons, or, perhaps, of politicians, 
whose animating principle is the perpetuation and 
extension of Slavery, and the advancement of 
slaveholders. That such combination exists, will 
be apparent from a review of our history. It 
shows itself, in the mildest and perhaps the least 
oflFensive form, in the undue proportion of offices 
under the Federal Constitution, which has been 
held by slaveholders. It is still worse apparent 
in the succession of acts by which the Federal 
Government has been prostituted to the cause of 
Slavery. Among the most important of these is 
the Missouri Compromise, the Annexation of 
Texas, and the "War with Mexico. Mindful of the 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 75 

sanctions, -wliicli Slavery derived under the Con- 
stitution — from the Missonri Compromise — of tlie 
fraud and iniquity of the Annexation of Texas — 
and of the great crime of waging an unnecessary 
and unjust war with Mexico — of the mothers, 
wives, and sisters, compelled to mourn sons, hus- 
bands, and brothers, untimely slain, — as these 
things, dark, dismal, atrocious, rise to the mind, 
may we not brand their author, the Slave Power, 
as a tyranny hai-dly less hateful than that which 
sustained the Bastile ? 

"This combination is unknowm to the Constitu- 
tion ; nay, it exists in defiance of the spirit of that 
instrument, and of the recorded opinions of its 
founders. The Constitution was the crownino; la- 
bor of the authors of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. It was established to perpetuate, in the form 
of an organic law, those rights which the Decla- 
ration had promulgated, and which the sword of 
Washington had secured — 'We hold these truths 
to be self-evident — that all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed with certain inalienable 
rights,' — that among these are life^ liberty^ and the 
jpursuit of haj)jpiness? Such are the emphatic 
words our country took upon its lips, when it first 
claimed its place among the nations of the earth. 
These were its baptismal vows. And the preamble 
of the Constitution renews them, when it declares 



76 MEMOIROF 

its objects to be, among other things, ' to establish 
justice, to promote the general welfare, and secnre 
the hlessings of liberty to ourselves and our poster- 
ity.' Mark, it is not to establish injustice — not to 
promote the welfare of a class, or a few slave- 
holders, bnt the general welfare ; not to foster the 
cm-se of slavery, but to secure the blessings of lib- 
erty. And the declared opinions of the fathers 
were all in harmony with these instruments. ' I 
can only say,' said Washington, ' that there is not 
a man living, who wishes more sincerely than I do 
to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery ; 
but there is only one proper and effectual mode by 
which it can be accomplished, and that is by legis- 
lative authority ; and this, as far as my suffrage 
will go, shall not be wanting.' Patrick Henry, 
while confessing that he was a master of slaves, 
said, ' I will not, I cannot justify it. However 
culpable my conduct, I will so far pay my devoir 
to virtue, as to own the excellence and rectitude 
of her precepts, and lament my want of conformity 
to them. I believe a time will come, when an op- 
portunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable 
evil.' And Franklin, as President of the earliest 
Abolition Society of the country, signed a petition 
to the iirst Congress, in which he declared that he 
' considered himself bound to use all justifiable 
endeavors to loosen the bands of slavery, and pro- 



HO]S'. CHARLES SUMNER. 77 

mote a general enjoyment of tlie blessings of free- 
dom,' Thus the soldier, the orator, and the phi- 
losopher of the Eevohition, all unite in homage to 
Freedom. Washington, so wise in counsel and in 
battle ; Patrick Henrj, with his tongue of flame ; 
Franklin, with his heaven-descended sagacity and 
humanity, all bear testimony to the true spirit of 
the times in which they lived, and of the institu- 
tions which they helped to establish. 

" It is apparent that our Constitution was form- 
ed by the k)vers of Human freedom ; that it was 
animated by their divine spirit ; that the institu- 
tion of Domestic Slavery was regarded l)y them 
witli aversion, so that, though covertly, alluded to, 
it was not named in the instrument ; and that they 
all looked forward to the day when this evil and 
shame w^ould be obliterated from the land. Sure- 
ly, then, it is riglit to say that the combination, 
whose object is to perpetuate and extend Slavery, 
is unknown to the Constitution, and exists in defi- 
ance of the spirit of that instrument, and the re- 
corded opinions of its founders. 

"Time would fail me to dwell on the o-rowinff 
influence, which it has exerted from the foundation 
of the government. In the earlier periods of 
our history it was moderate and reserved. The 
spirit of the founders still j^revailed. But with 
the advance of time, and as these earlier champi- 
7* 



78 MEMOIR OF 

ons passed from the scene, it became more auda- 
cious, aggressive, and tyrannical, till at last it has 
obtained the control of the government, and caused 
it to be administered, not in the spirit of Freedom, 
but in the spirit of Slavery. Yes ! the govern- 
ment of the United States is now (let it be said 
with shame) not what it was at the beginning, a 
government merely permitting, while it regretted 
slavery, but a government openly favoring and 
vindicating it, visiting also with its displeasure all 
who oppose it. 

" It is during late years that the Slave Power 
has introduced a new test for office — a test which 
would have excluded Washington, Jefi'erson, and 
Franklin. It applies an arrogant and unrelenting 
ostracism to all who express themselves against 
Slavery. And now, in the madness of its tyran- 
ny, it proposes to extend this curse to new soils 
not darkened by its presence. It seeks to make 
the flag of our country the carrier of Slavery into 
distant lands ; to scale the mountain fastnesses of 
Oregon, and descend with its prey upon the shores 
of the Pacific ; to cross the Kio Grande, and there, 
in broad territories, recently obtained by robber 
bands from Mexico, to plant a shameful institution, 
which that republic has expressly abolislied." 

The next most important oratorical effort of Mr. 
Sumner, is an address delivered on the 28th of 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 79 

May, 1849, before tlie American Peace Society at 
its anniversary in Boston, on The War System of 
the Commonwealth of Nations. In the opening 
of this discourse we have the blessings of peace 
admirably set forth in the following graceful pas- 
sage : 

"Peace is the grand Christian charity, the 
fountain and parent of all other charities. Let 
Peace be removed, and all other charities sicken 
and die. Let Peace exert her gladsome sway, 
and all other charities quicken into celestial life. 
Peace is a distinctive promise and possession of 
Christianity. So much is this the case, that, 
where Peace is not, Christianity cannot be. There 
is nothing elevated which is not exalted by Peace. 
There is nothing valuable which does not con- 
tribute to Peace. Of wisdom herself it has been 
said, that all her ways are pleasantness, and all 
her paths are Peace. Peace has ever been the 
lono-ing and aspiration of the noblest souls — 
whether for themselves or for their country. In 
the bitterness of exile, away from the Florence 
which he has immortalized by his Divine Poem, 
pacing the cloisters of a convent, in response to 
the inquiry of the monk,—' What do you seek ?' 
Dante said, in words distilled from his heart, 
Peace^ peace. In the memorable English strug- 
o-les, while king and parliament were rending the 



80 MEMOIROF 

land, a gallant supj)orter of the monarchy, the 
chivalrous Falkland, tonched by the intolerable 
woes of war, cried in words which consecrate bis 
memory more than any feat of arms, Peace^peace^ 
peace. Not in asj^iration only, but in benediction 
is this word uttered. As the apostle went forth 
on his errand, as the son left his father's roof, the 
choicest blessing was. Peace he with you. As the 
Saviour was born, angels from Heaven, amidst 
quiring melodies, let foil that supreme benedic- 
tion, never before vouchsafed to the children of 
the Human Family, Peace on earthy and good 
will towards men.'''' 

With this passage let us contrast one in the same 
address, which exhibits the true character of the 
Institution of "War. The passage is a choice one ; 
indeed, we hardly know where to find its equal of 
a kindred nature, in ancient or modern literature. 
It~ excels in felicity of conception, and in beauty 
of construction, and presents one of the most 
graphic descriptions which the ]3encil of the orator 
or the man of letters has ever drawn. And it, 
moreover, aifords an admirable illustration of Mr. 
Sumner's vivid and lofty imagination, and his 
happy art in the disposal of his varied intel- 
lectual attainments. We may add that it will, 
perhaps, be admired as long as the English lan- 
guage is spoken, and the cruel system of war de- 



HON. CHARLES SUMXER, 81 

tested by Christian nations. It presents an excel- 
lent specimen of Mr. Sumner's style of composi- 
tiou, and reflects mncli credit npon his literary 
genius. 

" I need not dwell on the waste and cruelty thns 
authorized. These stare us wildly in the face, 
wherever we tui-n, as we travel the page of 
history. We see the desolation and death that 
pursue War's demoniac footsteps. We look upon 
sacked towns, upon ravaged territories, upon vio- 
lated homes ; we behold all the sweet charities 
of life changed to wormwood and gall. Our 
soul is penetrated by the sharp moan of mothers, 
sisters, and daughters — of fathers, brotliers, and 
sons, who, in the bitterness of bereavement, refuse 
to be comforted. Our eyes rest at last on one of 
those fair fields, where nature, in her abundance, 
spreads her cloth of gold, spacious and apt for the 
entertainment of mighty multitudes — or, perhaps, 
from the curious subtlety of its position, like the 
carpet in the Arabian tale, seeming to contract so 
as to be covered by a few only, or to dilate so as 
to receive an innumerable host. Here, under a 
bright sun, such as shone at Austerlitz or Buena 
Vista — amidst the peaceful harmonies of nature — 
on the Sabbath of Peace — we behold bands of 
brotliers, children of a common Father, heirs to 
a common happiness, struggling together in the 



82 M E M O I R O F 

deadly fight; with the madness of fallen spirits 
seeking with murderous weapons the lives of 
brothers who have never injured them or their 
kindred. The havoc still rages. The ground is 
soaked with their commingling blood. The air is 
rent by their commingling cries. Horse and rider 
.are stretched together on the earth. More revolt- 
ing than the mangled victims, than the gashed 
limbs, than the lifeless trunks, than the spattering 
brains, are the lawless jiassions which sweep, 
tempest-like, through the fiendish tumult. 

* Nearer comes the storm and nearer, 

Eolling fast and frightful on. 
Speak, Xiinena, speak and tell us, 

Who has lost and who has won ? 
" Alas ! alas ! I know not ; 

Friend and foe together fall, 
O'er the dying rush the living; 

Pray, my sister, for them all !" 

Horror-struck, we ask, wherefore this hateful con- 
test ? The melancholy, but truthful answer, comes, 
that it is the established method of determining 
justice between nations ! 

" The scene changes. Far away on the distant 
pathway of the ocean two ships approach each 
other, with white canvas broadly spread to receive 
the flying gales. They are proudly built. All 
of human art has been lavished in their graceful 
proportions, and in their well-compacted sides, 
while they look in dimensions like floating hajjpy 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. '^H 

islands of tlie sea. A niimerons crew, with costly 
appliances of comfort, hives in their secure shel- 
ter. Surely those two travellers shall meet in joy 
and friendship ; the flag at the mast-head shall 
give the signal of fellowship ; the delighted sailors 
shall cluster in the rigging, and even on the yard- 
arms, to look each other in the face, while tlie 
exhilarating voices of both crews shall mingle in 
accents of gladness uncontrollable. It is not so. 
Not as brothers, not as friends, not as wayfarers 
of the common ocean, do they come together ; but 
as enemies. The gentle vessels now bristle fiercely 
with death-dealing instruments. On their spacious 
decks, aloft on all their masts, flashes the deadly 
musketry. From their sides spout cataracts of 
flame, amidst the pealing thunders of a fatal ar- 
tillery. They, who had escaped the dreadful touch 
of merchant-marring rocks ; who on their long and 
solitary way had sped unharmed by wind or wave ; 
whom the hurricane had spared ; in whose favor 
storms and seas had intermitted their unmitlgable 
war ; now at last fall by the hand of each other. 
The same spectacle of horror greets us from both 
ships. On their decks, reddened with blood, the 
murders of St. Bartholomew and the Sicilian Ves- 
pers, with the fires of Smithfield, seem to break 
forth anew^, and to concentrate their rage. Each 
has now become a swimming Golgotha. At length 



84: MEMOIROF 

these vessels — such pageants of the sea — once so 
stately, so proudly built — but now rudely shattered 
by cannon-balls — with shivered masts and ragged 
sails — exist only as unmanageable wrecks, wel- 
tering on the uncertain waves, whose temporary 
lull of peace is their only safety. In amaze- 
ment at this strange, unnatural contest — away 
from country and home — where there is no coun- 
try or home to defend — we ask again, wherefore 
this dismal duel ? Again the melancholy, but 
truthful answer promptly comes, that this is the 
estaUislied method of determining justice between 
nations." 

In a literary point of view, the reader of taste 
will derive pleasure from the perusal of this highly 
finished description of war, and the student of 
oratory will often turn to it with renewed delight. 
It fiu'nishes young students in our schools and 
academies with an excellent piece for declamation, 
and conveys wholesome truths to all. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 85 



CHAPTER VII. 

Delivers a Speech at the Free Soil State Convention— remarks on 
this etibrt — forcible extracts— Mr. Sumner ever true to the cause 
of Freedom. 

On tlie 3d of October, 1850, Mr. Sumner deliv- 
ered a most eloquent and impassioned speech at 
the Free Soil State Convention in Boston, on Our 
present Anti-Slavery Duties. This speccli was 
delivered with overwhelming force, and was re- 
sponded to by a whirlwind of enthusiasm, which 
has rarely been exceeded in the history of oratory. 
One writer states that it was received with " thim- 
ders of applause ;" another adds, " It is the most 
graphic and eloquent address he has uttered." 
Those who were present on that occasion can 
never forget the music and melody of tone, the 
vehemence of manner, the gracefulness of action, 
and the majesty of countenance with which the 
speaker swayed and fascinated his audience. 
Never, perhaps, did Mr. Sumner rise to a higher 
pitch of eloquence than when he uttered some of 
the thrilling sentiments in which this speech 
abounds. He seemed to display all the grandeur 



86 M E M O I R O F 

of oratory, while (to borrow tlie language of one, 
when describing a great oratorical eflbrt of Daniel 
Webster) " eye, brow, each feature, every line of 
the face seemed touched, as with celestial fire. 
All gazed as at something more than human." 
All, we may add, were enchained by the irresisti- 
ble might of his eloquence ; for all felt that the 
speaker was sincere in his remarks — that his 
words came from the heart. It was a noble 
triumph of genuine oratory, one of the grandest 
that has ever swayed the feelings of a popular au- 
dience. 

His indignant strictures on the Fugitive Slave 
Bill, which had but recently been passed, and his 
scathing remarks on Millard Fillmore who signed 
this iniquitous bill, possess a power which thrill 
the very soul. Let the following passage from 
this speech be carefully perused by every lover of 
freedom at the North. Candid reader, we ask 
you to consider these words : 

" The soul sickens in the contemplation of this 
outrage. In the dreary annals of the past, there 
are many acts of shame — there are ordinances of 
monarchs, and laws, which have become a by- 
word and a hissing to the nations. But, Avhen we 
consider the country and the age, I ask fearlessly. 
What act of shame, what ordinance of monarch, 
what law can compare in atrocity with this enact- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 8( 

ment of an American Congress ? I do not forget 
Appins Claudius, the tyrant Decemvir of ancient 
Rome, condemning Virginia as a slave ; nor Louis 
XIV., of France, letting slip the dogs of reli- 
gious persecution by the revocation of the edict 
of Nantes ; nor Charles I., of England, arousing 
the patriot-rage of Hampden by the extortion of 
ship-money ; nor the British Parliament, provok- 
ing, in our country, spirits kindred to Hampden, 
by the tyranny of the Stamp Act and the Tea Tax. 
I would not exaggerate ; I wish to keep within 
bounds ; but I think no person can doubt that the 
condemnation now affixed to all these ti-ansactions, 
and to their authors, must be the lot hereafter of 
the Fugitive Slave Bill, and of every one, accord- 
ing to the measure of his influence, who gave it 
his support. Into the immortal catalogue of na- 
tional crimes this has now passed, drawing after 
it, by an inexorable necessity, its authors also, and. 
chiefly him, who, as President of the United. 
States, set his name to the Bill, and breathed into 
it that final breath without which it would have 
no life. Other Presidents may be forgotten ; but 
the name signed to the Fugitive Slave Bill can 
never be forgotten. There are depths of infamy, 
as there are height^ of fame. I regret to say what 
I must ; but truth compels me. Better for him 
had he never been born ! Better far for his mem- 



88 MEMOIPwOF 

oiy, and for the good name of liis children, had he 
never been President ! 

" Surely the love of Freedom cannot have so 
far cooled among us, the descendants of those op- 
posing the Stamp Act, that we are insensible to 
the Fugitive Slave Bill. The unconquerable rage 
of the people in those other days, compelled the 
Stamp-distributors and inspectors to renounce their 
oflSces, and held up to detestation all who dared to 
speak in favor of the Stamps. And shall we be 
more tolerant of those who volunteer in favor of 
this Bill ? — more tolerant of the slave-hunter, who, 
under its safeguard, pursues his prey upon our 
soil? The Stamp Act could not be executed 
here ! Can the Fugitive Slave Bill ? 

" And here, sir, let me say, that it becomes me 
to speak with peculiar caution. It happens to me 
to sustain an important relation to this Bill. Ear- 
ly in professional life I was designated by the late 
Mr. Justice Story one of the Commissioners of the 
Courts of the United States, and though I have 
not very often exercised the functions of this post, 
yet my name is still upon the list. As such I am 
one of those before whom, under the recent Act of 
Congress, the panting fugitive may be brought for 
the decision of the question whether he is a free- 
man or slave. But while it becomes me to speak 
with caution, I shall not hesitate to speak with 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 89 

plainness. I cannot forget that I am a man, al- 
thongli I am a Commissioner. 

" Did the same spirit which inspired onr fathers, 
inspire the community now, the marshals, and 
every magistrate who regarded this law as having 
any constitutional obligation, would resign rather 
than presume to execute it. This, however, is too 
much to expect from all at present. But I will 
not judge them. To their own consciences I leave 
them. Surely no person of humane feelings, and 
with any true sense of justice — living in a land 
' where bells have tolled to church' — whatever may 
be the apology of public station, could fail to re- 
coil from such service. For myself, let me say 
that I can imagine no office, no salary, no consider- 
ation, which I would not gladly forego, rather than 
become in any way an agent in enslaving my 
brother man. "Where for me would be comfort 
and solace, after such a work ? In dreams and in 
waking hours, in solitude and in the street, in the 
meditations of the closet, and in the affairs of men, 
wherever I turned, there my victim would stare 
me in the face ; from the distant rice-fields and 
cotton-plantations of the South, his cries beneath 
the vindictive lash, his moans, at the thought of 
liberty once his, now, alas! ravished from him, 
would pursue me, telling the tale of his fearful 
doom, and sounding in my ears, ' Thou art the man !' 



90 MEMOIROF 

" Sir, I will not dishonor this home of the Pil- 
grims, and of the Revolution, by admitting — nay, 
I cannot believe — that this Bill will be executed 
here. Individuals among us, as elsewhere, may 
forget humanity in a fancied loyalty to law ; but 
the public conscience will not allow a man, who 
has trodden our streets as a freeman, to be dragged 
away as a slave. By his escape from bondage, he 
has shown that true manhood, which must grapple 
to him every honest heart. He may be ignorant, 
and rude, as he is poor, but he is of true nobility. 
The Fugitive Slaves of the United States are among 
the heroes of our age. In sacrificing them to this 
foul enactment of Congress, we should violate every 
sentiment of hospitality, every whispering of the 
heart, every dictate of religion. 

" There are many who will never shrink at cost, 
and notwithstanding all the atrocious penalties of 
this Bill, from efforts to save a wandering fellow- 
man from bondage ; they will offer him the shelter 
of their houses, and if need be, will protect his 
liberty by force. But, let me be understood, I 
counsel no violence. There is another power — 
stronger than any individual arm — which I invoke ; 
I mean that invincible Public Opinion, inspired 
by love of God and man, which, without violence 
or noise, gently as the operations of nature, makes 
and unmakes laws. Let this opinion be felt in its 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 91 

Christian might, and the Fugitive Slave Bill will 
become everywhere upon our soil, a dead letter. 
No lawyer will aid it by counsel ; no citizen will 
become its agent ; it will die of inanition — ^like 
a spider beneath an exhausted receiver. Oh! it 
were w^ell the tidings should spread throughout the 
land, that here, in Massachusetts, this accursed 
bill has found no servants. ' Sire, I have found 
in Bayonne honest citizens and brave soldiers only ; 
but not one executioner,' was the reply of the 
governor of that place to the royal mandate of 
Charles IX., of France, ordering the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew. 

" But it rests with you, my fellow-citizens, by 
your works and your words and your example, by 
your calm determinations and your devoted lives, 
to do this work. From a humane, just, and re- 
ligious people, shall spring up a public opinion, to 
keep perpetual guard over the liberties of all within 
our borders. 'Naj, more, like the flaming sw^ord 
of the cherubim at the gates of Paradise, turning 
on every side, it shall prevent any Slave-hunter 
from ever setting foot in this Commonwealth ! 
Elsewhere, he may pursue his human prey ; he 
may employ his congenial blood-hounds, and exult 
in his successful game. But into Massachusetts he 
must not come ! And yet again I say, I counsel 
no violence. I would not touch his person. Not 



92 ]\t E M O I R O F 

with whips and thongs would I scourge him from 
the land. The contempt, the indignation, the ab- 
horrence of the community, shall be our weapons 
of oifence. Wherever he moves, he shall find no 
house to receire him — no table spread to nom-ish 
him — no welcome to cheer him. The dismal lot 
of the Koman exile shall be his. He shall be a 
wanderer, without roof, fire, or water. Men shall 
point at him in the streets, and on the highways : 

' Sleep shall neither night nor day 
Hang on his pent-house lid ; 
He shall live a man forbid. 
Weary seven nights, nine times nine, 
Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine.' 

The villages, towns, and cities shall refuse to re- 
ceive the monster; they shall vomit him forth, 
never again to distm-b the repose of our com- 
munity." 

The grand aims of the Free Soil party are thus 
clearly stated in this address : 

" It is a mistake to say, as is often charged, that 
we seek to interfere, through Congress, with Slave- 
ry in the States, or in any way to direct the legis- 
lation of Congress upon subjects not within its 
jurisdiction. Our j^olitical aims, as well as om- 
political duties, are coextensive with ouv political 
responsibilities. And since we at the North are 
responsible for Slavery, wherever it exists under 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 03 

the jurisdiction of Congress, it is unpardonable in 
us not to exert every power we possess to enlist 
Congress against it. 

" Looking at details : 

"We demand, first and foremost, the instant 
Kej^eal of the Fugitive Slave law. 

"We demand the abolition of Slaveiy in the 
District of Columbia. 

" We demand the exercise by Congress, in all 
Territories, of its time-honored power to prohibit 
Slavery. 

" We demand of Congress to refuse to receive 
into the Union, any new Slave State. 

" We' demand the abolition of the domestic 
slave-trade, so far as it can be constitutionally 
reached ; but particularly on the high seas imder 
the National Flag. 

" And, generally, we demand from the Federal 
Government the exercise of all its constitutional 
power to relieve itself from responsibility for 
Slavery. 

" And yet one thing further must be done. The 
Slave Power must be overturned ; so that the Fed- 
eral Government may be put openly, actively, and 
perpetually on the side of Freedom." 

In the conclusion of this speech Mr. Sumner 
points out, in language of surpassing beauty, the 
course of his own future political action, and states 



94 MEMOIROF 

the great cause which he would ever strive to 
maintain — the principles of Freedom. 

" To vindicate Freedom, and to oppose Slavery, 
so far as I might constitutionally — with earnest- 
ness, and yet, I trust, without any personal unkind- 
ness, on my part — has been the object near my 
heart. Would that I could impress upon all who 
now hear me something of the strength of my 
own conviction of the importance of this work ! 
"Would that my voice, leaving this crowded hall 
to-night, could traverse the hills and valleys of 
New England, that it could run along the rivers 
and the lakes of my country, lighting in every hu- 
mane heart a beacon-flame to arouse the slumberers 
throughout the land. In this cause I care not for 
the name by which I may be called. Let it be 
democrat, or ' loco-foco,' if you please. No man 
who is in earnest will hesitate on account of a 
name. I shall rejoice in any associates from any 
quarter, and shall ever be found with that party 
which most truly represents the principles of 
Freedom. Others may become indifferent to 
these principles, bartering them for political suc- 
cess, vain and short-lived, or forgetting the visions 
of youth in the dreams of age. Whenever I shall 
forget them, whenever I shall become indifferent 
to them, whenever I shall cease to be constant in 
maintaining them, through good report and evil 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 95 

report, in any future combinations of party, tlien 
may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, 
may my right hand forget its cunning !" 

"We all know with what ability and faithfulness 
Mr. Sumner has vindicated those principles which 
have just been stated, during his past senatorial 
career. Every one knows that he has never yet 
flinched from his duty in this respect. Up to the 
very time when his blood was spilled upon the 
Senate Chamber, by the hand of brutal violence, 
he was ever true to the great principles of Peace, 
Justice, and Freedom. 



96 MEMOIROF 



CHAPTER Vin. 

Elected to the United States Senate— Letter of Acceptance— Speeches 
on the Iowa Kailroad Bill — An extract— delivers his celebrated 
Speech in the Senate, entitled Freedom National, Slavery Sec- 
tional—passage quoted on Freedom of Speech— the Peroration- 
remarks. 

On the 24th of April, 1851, Mr. Sumner was 
elected by the Massachusetts Legislature to the 
office of United States Senator, as the successor of 
Daniel Webster. In accepting this honorable post 
he addressed the following patriotic and eloquent 
letter to the Legislature, which was read in the 
Senate by Hon. Henry Wilson, President, and in 
the House of Eepresentatives by Hon. N. P. 
Banks, Speaker. 

" Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of 

Kepkesentatives : 

" I have received by the hands of the Secretary 
of the Commonwealth a certificate, that, by con- 
current votes of the two branches of the Legisla- 
ture, namely, by the Senate, on the 22d day of 
January, and by the House of Eepresentatives, on 
the 24th day of April, I was duly elected, in con- 



H O X . CHARLES SUMNER. 97 

f()rmity to the provisions of the Constitution and 
Laws of the United States, a Senator to represent 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the Senate 
of tlie United States, for the term of six years, 
commencing on the 4th day of March, 1851. 

" If I were to follow the customary coui'se, I 
should receive this in silence. But the protracted 
and imprecedented contest which ended in my 
election, — the interest it awakened, — the impor- 
' tance universally conceded to it, — the ardor of 
opposition and the constancy of support which it 
aroused, — also the principles, which more than 
ever among us, it brought into discussion, seem to 
justify, what my own feelings iri-esistibly prompt, 
a departure from this rule. If, beyond these con- 
siderations, any apology may be needed for thus 
direct!}^ addressing the Legislature, I may find it 
in the example of an illustrious predecessor, whose 
clear and venerable name will be a sufficient au- 
thority.* 

" The trust conferred on me is one of the most 
weighty which a citizen can receive. It concerns 
the grandest interests of our own Commonwealth, 
and also of the Union whereof we are an indisso- 
luble part. Like every post of eminent duty, rt is 
a post of eminent honor. A personal ambition, 
such as I cannot confess, might be satisfied to pos- 

* Jolin Quincy Adams. 



98 M E M O I R O F 

sess it. But when I think what it requires, I am 
obliged to say, that its honors are all eclij^sed iu 
my sight by its duties. 

" Your appointment finds ine in a private sta- 
tion, with which I am entirely content: But this 
is not all. F(_)r the first time in my life, I am now 
called to political oflice. With none of the expe- 
rience so amply possessed by others, to smooth 
the way of labor, I might M-ell hesitate. But I 
am cheered by the generous confidence, which, 
throughout a lengthened contest, j)ersevered in 
sustaining me, and by the conviction that, amidst 
all seeming differences of party, the sentiments, of 
which I am the known advocate, and which led 
to my original selection as. a candidate, are dear 
to the hearts of a large majority of the j)eople of 
this Commonwealth. I derive, also, a most grate- 
ful consciousness of personal independence from 
the circumstance, which I deem it fiank and 
proper thus iDublicly to declare and place on 
record, that this office comes to ine, unsought and 
undesired. 

" Acknowledging the right of my country to 
the service of her sons, wherever she chooses to 
place them, and with a heart full of gratitude that 
a sacred cause has been permitted to triumph 
through me, I now accejjt the i)Ost of Senator. 

" I accept it as the servant of Massachusetts ; 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 09 

mindful of the sentiments solemnly nttered by her 
successive Legislatures ; of the genius which in- 
spii'es her history ; and of the men, her perpetual 
pride and ornament, who breathed into her that 
breath of Liberty, which early made her an exam- 
ple to her sister States. In such a service, the 
Avay, though new to my footsteps, will be ilhyuined 
by lights which cannot be missed. 

" I accept it as the servant of the Union ; bound 
to study and maintain, with equal patriotic care, 
the interests of all parts of our countiy ; to dis- 
countenance every effort to loosen any of those 
ties by which our fellowship of States is held in 
fraternal company ; and to oppose all sectionalism^ 
whether it appear in unconstitutional efforts by 
the North to carry so great a boon as Freedom 
into the slave States, or in unconstitutional efforts 
by the South, aided by Northern allies, to carry 
the sectional evil of Slavery into the free States; 
or in whatsoever efforts it may make to extend the 
sectional domination of Slavery over the National 
Government. "With me the Union is twice-blessed ; 
first, as the powerful guardian of the repose and 
happiness of thirty-one sovereign States, clasped 
by the endearing name of coimtry ; and next, as 
the model and beginning of that all-embracing 
Federation of States, by which unity, peace, and 
concord will finally be organized among the na- 



100 MEMOIR OF 

tions. Nor do I believe it possible, whatever may 
be tbe delusion of the hour, that any part thereof 
can be permanently lost from its well-compacted 
bulk. E Plurilus TJmim is stamped upon the 
national coin, the national territor}^, and the na- 
tional heart. Though composed of many parts 
imited into one, the Union is separable only by a 
crash which shall destroy the whole. 

" Entering now upon the public service, I ven- 
ture to bespeak for what I may do or say that 
candid judgment, which I trust always to extend 
to others, but which I am well aware the preju- 
dices of party too rarely concede. I may fail in 
ability ; but not in sincere efforts to promote the 
general weal. In the conflicts of opinion, natural 
to the atmosphere of liberal institutions, I may 
err ; but I trust never to forget the prudence 
which should temper firmness, or the modesty 
which becomes the consciousness of right. If I 
decline to recognize as my guides any of the men 
of to-day, I shall feel safe, while I follow the 
master piinciples which the Union was establishe'd 
to secin-e, and lean for support on the great trium- 
virate of American Freedom — Washington, Frank- 
lin, and Jefferson. And since true politics are 
simply morals applied to public affairs, I shall 
find constant assistance from those everlasting 
rules of right and wrong, which are a law alike 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 101 

to individuals and communities; nay, wliich con- 
strain the omnipotent God in self-imposed bonds. 

" Let me borrow, in conclusion, the langnage of 
another: 'I see my duty; that of standing np f(»r 
the liberties of my country; and whatever diffi- 
culties and discouragements lie in my way, I dare 
not shrink from it ; and I rely on that Being, who 
has not left to ns the choice of duties, that whilst 
I shall conscientiously discharge mine, I shall not 
finally lose my reward.' These are tlie words of 
Washington, nttered in the early darkness of the 
American Kevolution. The rule of duty is the 
same for the lowly and the great ; and I hope it 
may not seem presumptuous in one so humble as 
myself to adopt his determination, and to avow his 
confidence. 

" I have the honor to be, fellow-citizens, 
" With sincere regard, 

" Tonr faithful friend and servant, 

"CHARLES SUMNER. 

" Boston, May 14, 1S51." 

Among his first important efforts in the Senate 
was his defence of the policy of Kailroads, in 
the new and enterprising States of the West. On 
the 27th of January, ITth of February, and ICth 
of March, 1852, he spoke ably and efficiently on 
the Iowa Kailroad Bill — a bill granting the right 

9« 



102 MEMOIR OF 

of way, and making a grant of land to the State of 
Iowa, in aid of the construction of certain Kail- 
roads, in said State. While showing the great ad- 
vantages which would be derived to the whole 
Union, from the construction of Railroads through- 
out the States and territories of the great West, he 
very beautifully and eloquently remarked : 

" Thus much for what I have to saj in favor of this 
bill, on the ground o^ justice to the States in which 
the lands lie. If this argument did not seem suffi- 
ciently conclusive to render any further discussion 
superfluous, at least from me, I might go forward, 
and show that the true interests of the whole coun- 
try — of every State in the Union, as of Iowa itself 
— are happily coincident with this claim of justice. 

"It will readily occur to all, that the whole 
country will gain by the increased value of the 
lands still retained and benefited by the proposed 
road. But this advantage, though not unimpor- 
tant, is trivial by the side of the grander gains — 
commercially, politically, socially, and morally — 
which will necessarily accrue from the opening of 
a new communication, by which the territoi-y be- 
yond the Mississippi will be brought into connec- 
ticm with the Atlantic seaboard, and by"^hich the 
distant post of Council Bluffs will become a suburb 
of Washington. It would be difficult to exagger- 
ate the influence of roads as means of civilization. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER.' 103 

This, at least, may be said : "Where roads are not, 
civilization cannot be; and civilization advances 
as roads are extended. By these, religion and 
knowledge are diffused ; intercourse of all kinds is 
promoted ; the producer, the manufacturer, and 
the consumer, are all brought nearer together; 
commerce is quickened ; markets are opened ; 
property, wherever touched by these lines, is 
changed, as by a magic rod, into new values ; and 
the great current of travel, like the stream of clas- 
sic fable, or one of the rivers of our own California, 
hurries in a channel of golden sand. The roads, 
together with the laws, of ancient Rome, are now 
better remembered than her victories. The Fla- 
minian and Appian "Ways — once trod by returning 
proconsuls and tributary kings — still remain as 
beneficent representatives of her departed gran- 
deur. Under God, the road and the schoolmaster 
are the two chief agents of human improvement. 
The education begun by the schoolmaster is ex- 
panded, liberalized, and completed, by intercourse 
witli the world ; and this intercourse finds new op- 
portunities and inducements in every road that is 
built. 

"Our countr}^ has already done much in this 
regard. Through a remarkable line of steam com- 
munications, chiefly by railroad, its whole popula- 
tion is now, or will be soon, brought close to the 



104 M E M I K OF 

borders of Iowa. The cities of the Southern seaboard 
— Charleston, Savannah, and Mobile — are already 
stretching their lines in this direction, soon to be 
completed conductors; while the traveller from 
all the princi23al points of the Northern seaboard 
— from Portland, Boston, Providence, New York, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington — now 
passes without impediment to this remote region, 
traversing a territory of unexampled resources — at 
once a magazine and a granary — the largest coal- 
field, and at the same time the largest corn-field, 
of the known globe — winding his way among 
churches and school-houses, among forests and 
gardens, by villages, towns, and cities, along the 
sea, along rivers and lakes, with a speed which 
may recall the gallop of the ghostly horseman in 
the ballad : 

'Fled past on right and left how fast 

Each forest, grove, and bower ! 
On riglit and left fled past how fast 
Each city, town, and tower ! 

' Tramp ! tramp ! along the land they speed, 
Splash ! splash ! across the sea.' 

" On the banks of the Mississippi he is now ar- 
rested. The proposed road in Iowa will bear the 
adventurer yet further, to the banks of the Mis- 
souri ; and this distant giant stream, mightiest of the 
earth, leaping from its sources in the Rocky Moun- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 105 

tains, will bf? clasped with the Atlantic in the 
same iron bracelet. In all this I see not only fnr- 
ther opportunities for commerce, but a new exten- 
sion to civilization and increased strength to our 
JSTational Union. 

" A heathen poet, while picturing the golden 
age, has perversely indicated the absence of long 
lines of road as creditable to that imaginary pe- 
riod in contrast with his own. ' How well,' ex- 
claimed the youthful Tibullus,* 'they lived while 
Saturn ruled — lefore the earth was opened hj long 
ways ;' 

'Quam bene Saturno vivebant rege, priusquam 
Tellus in longas estpaUfacta vias.'' 

" But the true golden age is before us, not be- 
hind us ; and one of its tokens will be the com- 
pletion of those long ways^ by which villages, 
towns, counties, states, provinces, nations, are all 
to be associated and knit together in a fellowship 
that can never be broken." 

On the 26th of August, 1852, Mr. Sumner made 
one of his grandest efforts in behalf of human 
Freedom — his speech in the Senate of the United 
States, on his motion to repeal the Fugitive Slave 
Bill, entitled, Freedom National^ Slavei^ Sec- 
tional. 

* Opera, Lib. i. Eleg. 3, v. 85. 



106 MEMOIR OF 

He was for a long time deprived of a hearing 
on tliis iin]3ortant subject, the pro-slavery members 
of the Senate having determined to deny and 
trample upon the freedom of speech on all ques- 
tions touching slavery. Mr. Sumner at lengtli 
seized the opportunity for which he had long been 
watching, when, according to the rules of the Sen- 
ate, he might be heard without impediment, and 
addressed the Senate in a speech of remarkable 
compass, eloquence, and power. In the opening 
of this speech, he refers in lofty tones of bold and 
glowing eloquence to the proposition which had 
been made to trample upon the freedom of speech 
in public debate — a subject which has just elicited 
many stirring and forcible remarks from many of 
the ablest men in the country, in consequence of 
the brutal assault upon Mr. Sumner for exercising 
this great privilege, a privilege secured by the 
constitution, and without which no free govern- 
ment can exist. lie says : 

" But, sir, this effort is impotent as tyrannical. 
The convictions of the heart cannot be repressed. 
Tlie utterance of conscience must be heard. They 
break forth with irrepressible might. As well at- 
tenvpt to check the tides of ocean ^ the currents of 
the Mississippi^ or the rushing waters of Niagara. 
The discussion of Slavery will proceed, wherever 
two or three are gathered together — by the fire- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 107 

side, on the highway, at the public meeting, in 
tlie church. The movenient against Slavery is 
from the Everlasting arm. Even now it is gather- 
ing its forces, soon to be confessed everywhere. 
It may not yet be felt in the high places of office 
and power ; but all who can put their ears hum- 
bly to the ground, will hear and comprehend its 
incessant and advancing tread." 

Having gone through with the discussion of the 
most important points involved in his motion, and 
having presented the subject in the clearest light, 
and defended it with unanswerable arguments, he 
closes as follows : 

" Mr. President, I have occupied much time ; 
but the great subject still stretches before us. One 
other point yet remains, which I should not leave 
untouched, and which justly belongs to the close. 
The Slave Act violates the Constitution and shocks 
the Public Conscience. "With modesty, and yet 
with firmness, let me add, sir, it offends against the 
Divine Law. No such enactment can be entitled 
to support. As the throne of God is above every 
earthly throne, so are his laws and statutes above 
all the laws and statutes of man. To question 
these is to question God himself. But to assume 
that human laws are beyond question, is to claim 
for their fallible authors infallibility. To assume 
that the\' are always iu conformity with the la^vs 



108 MEMOIR OF 

of God is presumptnonslj and impiously to exalt 
man to an equality with God. Clearly human 
laws are not always in such conformity ; nor can 
they ever be beyond question from each individual. 
Where the conflict is oj^en, as if Congress should 
command the perpetration of murder, the office of 
conscience as final arbiter is undisputed. But in 
every conflict the same queenly ofiice is hers. By 
no earthly power can she be dethroned. Each 
person, after anxious examination, without haste, 
without passion, solemnly for himself must decide 
this great controversy. Any other rule attributes 
infallibility to human laws, places them beyond 
question, and degrades all men to an unthinking 
passive obedience. 

" According to St. Augustine, an unjust law 
does not appear to be a law ; lex esse ?ion videtur 
qucB justa non fuerit : and the great fathers of 
the Church, while adopting these words, declare 
openly that unjust laws are not binding. Some- 
times they are called ' abuses,' and not laws ; some- 
times ' violences,' and not laws. And here again 
the conscience of each person is the final arbiter. 
But this lofty principle is not confined to the 
Church, A master of philosophy in early Europe, 
a name of intellectual renown, the eloquent Abe- 
lard, in Latin verses addressed to his son, has cleai ly 
expressed the universal injunction : 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 109 

' Jussa potestatis terrenje discntienda 
Ccelestis tibi mox perflcienda scias. 
Siquis divinis jubeat contraria jussis 
Te contra Domiuum pactio nuUo trahat.' 

" The mandates of an earthly power are to be 
discussed ; those of Heaven must at once be per- 
formed ; nor can any agreement constrain us against 
God. Sucli is the rule of morals. Such, also, by 
the lips of judges and sages, lias been the proud 
declaration of the English law, whence our own is 
derived. In this conviction patriots have fearlessly 
braved unjust commands, and martyrs have died. 

And now, sir, the rule is commended to us. 
The good citizen, as he thinks of the shivering fu- 
gitive — guilty of no crime — pursued — hunted down 
like a beast, while praying for Christian help and 
deliverance, and as he reads the requirements of 
this Act, is filled with horror. Here is a despotic 
mandate, ' to aid and assist in the prompt and effi- 
cient execution of this law.' Again let me speak 
frankly. Not rashly would I set myself against 
any provision of law. This grave responsibility I 
would not lightly assume. But here the path of 
duty is clear. By the Supreme Law, which com- 
mands me to do no injustice ; by the comprehen- 
sive Christian Law of Brotherhood ; hy the Con- 
stitution^ which I have sworn to support / I am 
BOUND TO DISOBEY THIS ACT. Ncvcr, ill any capa- 
city, can I render voluntary aid in its execution. 

10 



110 MEMOIR OF 

Pains and penalties I will endnre ; but tliis great 
wrong I will not do. ' I cannot obey ; but I can 
suffer,' was the exclamation of tlie author of Pil- 
grim's Progress, when imprisoned for disobedience 
to an earthly statute. Better suffer injustice than 
do it. Better be the victim than the instrument 
of wrong. Better be even the poor slave, returned 
to bondage, than the unhappy Commissioner. 

" There is, sir, an incident of histoiy, which sug- 
gests a parallel, and affords a lesson of fidelity. 
Under the triumphant exertions of that Apostolic 
Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier, large numbers of the 
Japanese, amounting to as many as two hundred 
thousand — among them princes, generals, and the 
flower of the nobility — were converted to Chris- 
tianity. Afterwards, amidst the phrensy of civil 
war, religious persecution arose, and the penalty 
of death was denounced against all who refused 
to trample upon the effigy of the Redeemer. This 
was the Pagan law of a Pagan land. But the de- 
lighted historian records that scarcely one from the 
multitude of converts was guilty of this apostasy. 
The law of man was set at naught. Imprisonment, 
torture, death, M'ere preferred. Thus did this 
people refuse to trample on the painted image. 
Sir, multitudes among us will not be less steadfast 
in refusing to trample on the living image of their 
Redeemer. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. Ill 

" Finally, sir, for the sake of peace and tran- 
qnillity, cease to shock the Public Conscience ; 
for the sake of the Constitution, cease to exercise 
a power which is nowhere granted, and which 
violates inviolable rights expressly secured. Leave 
this question where it was left by our fathers, at 
the formation of our national government, in the 
absolute control of the States, the appointed guar- 
dians of personal liberty. Eepeal this enactment. 
Let its terrors no longer rage through the land. 
Mindful of the lowly whom it pursues ; mindful 
of the good men perplexed by its requirements ; 
in the name of charity, in the name of the Consti- 
tution, repeal this enactment, totally and without 
delay. Be inspired by the example of Washing- 
ton. Be admonished by those words of Oriental 
piety : ' Beware of the groans of the wounded 
souls. Oppress not to the utmost a single heart ; 
for a solitary sigh has power to overset a whole 
world.' " 

Though this speech failed to accomplish the de- 
sired elfect, yet, like the imperishable orations of 
Demosthenes, Cicero, Chatham, and Burke, it will 
be studied and admired by posterity, when, per- 
haps, the great national evils upon which it dwells 
shall have been forever banished the country. 



112 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER IX. 

Delivers a Speech at the Plymouth Festival — its peroration quoted 
— makes his memorable Speech in the Senate, The Landmark of 
Freedom ; Freedom National — extracts — his final protest for him- 
self and the Clergy of New England against Slavery in Nebraska 
and Kansas — his remarks on that occasion. 

On tlie 1st of August, 1853, Mr. Sumner made 
a brilliant speech at the Plymouth Festival in 
commemoration of the embarkation of the Pil- 
grims. His remarks on that interesting occasion 
were particularly felicitous, glowing with the 
flame of patriotic eloquence. Ilis address was 
truly a noble " Finger-'point frotn Plymouth 
Hock^'^ in the closing sentiments of which we 
have these woi*ds : 

" Sir, if the honors of this day are not a mock- 
ery ; if they do not expend themselves in mere 
selfish gratulation ; if they are a sincere homage 
to the character of the Pilgrims — and I cannot 
suppose otherwise, — then is it well for us to be 
here. Standing on Plymouth Rock, at their great 
anniversary, we cannot fail to be elevated by their 
example. We see clearly what it has done for the 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 113 

\vor]«], and what it lias done fur tlieir fame. Ko 
pusillanimous soul here to-day will declare their 
self-sacrilice, their deviation from received opin- 
ions, their unquenchable thirst for liberty, an error 
or illusion. From gushing multitudinous hearts 
we now thank these lowly men that they dared to 
be true and brave. Conformity or compromise 
might, perhaps, have purchased for them a profit- 
able peace, but not peace of mind ; it might have 
secured place and power, but not repose ; it might 
have opened a present shelter, but not a home in 
history and in men's hearts till time shall be no 
more. All will confess the true grandeur of their 
example, while, in vindication of a cherished 
principle, they stood alone, against the madness 
of men, against the law of the land, against their 
king. Better be the despised Pilgrim, a fugitive 
for freedom, than the halting politician, forgetful 
of principle, 'with a Senate at his heels.' 

" Such, sir, is the voice from Plymouth Rock, 
as it salutes my ears. Others may not hear it. 
But to me it comes in tones which I cannot mis- 
take. I catch its words of noble cheer : 

' New occasions teach new duties ; Time makes ancient good un- 
couth; 

They must upward still and onward, wlio would keep abreast of 
Truth : 

Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires ! we ourselves must Pilgrims be, 

Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate win- 
ter sea.' " 

10* 



114 MEMOIROF 

The next great senatorial effort of Mr. Sumner 
was his speech against the repeal of the Missouri 
prohibition of Shivery north of 36° 30' in the Ne- 
braska and Kansas Bill, delivered in the Senate, 
February 21, 1854. This speech, which is known 
by the title of J lie Lan&marh of Freedom / Free- 
dom National^ is one of the ablest and most ear- 
nest vindications of national justice ever made in a 
legislative body. The opening remarks, which 
we quote, are very forcible and eloquent, and af- 
ford an excellent example of Mr. Sumner's char- 
acter as a lover of right and a defender of freedom. 

" Mr. Pkesident : I approach this discussion 
with awe. The mighty question, with its untold 
issues, oppresses me. Like a portentous cloud, 
surcharged with irresistible storm and ruin, it 
seems to fill the whole heavens, making me pain- 
fully conscious how unequal I am to the occasion — 
how unequal, also, is all that I can say, to all that 
I feel. 

" In delivering my sentiments here to-day, I 
shall speak frankly — according to my convictions, 
without concealment or reserve. But if any thing 
fell from the Senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas], 
in opening this discussion, which nn'ght seem to 
challenge a personal contest, I desire to say that I 
shall not enter upon it. Let not a word or a tone 
pass my lips, to direct attention, for a moment, 



HON. CHARLES S U M :N E R . 115 

from the transcendent theme, — bj the side of 
which Senators and Presidents are but dwarfs. I 
would not forget those amenities which behOTg to 
this phice, and are so well calculated to temper 
the antao-onism of debate ; nor can I cease to re- 
member and to feel, that, amidst all diversities of 
opinion, we are the representatives of thirty one 
sister rej^ublics, knit together by indissoluble tie, 
and constituting that Plural Unit, which we all 
embrace by the endearing name of country. 

" The question presented for yonr consideration 
is not surpassed in grandeur by any which has 
occurred in our national history since the Declara- 
tion of Independence. In every aspect it assumes 
gigantic proportions, whether we simply consider 
the extent of territory it concerns, or the public 
fuith and national policy wdiich it assails, or that 
higher question — that Question of Questions^ — as 
far above others as Liberty is above the common 
things of life — which it opens anew for judgment. 

" It concerns an immense region, larger than 
the original thirteen States, vying in extent with 
all the existing free States — stretching over prairie, 
field, and forest — interlaced by silver streams, 
skirted by protecting mountains, and constituting 
the heart of the North American continent — only 
a little smaller, let me add, than the three great 
Eui'opean countries combined — Italy, Spain, and 



116 MEMOIROF 

France — each of which, in succession, has dom- 
inated over the globe. This territory has ah-eadj 
been likened, on this floor, to the Garden of God. 
The similitude is fonnd, not merely in its present 
pure and virgin character, but in its actual geo- 
graphical situation, occupying central spaces on 
this hemispliere, which, in their general relations, 
may well compare with that early Asiatic home. 
"We are told that, 

'Southward througli Eden went a river large ;' 

SO here a stream flows southward which is larger 
than the Euphrates. And here, too, amidst all 
the smiling products of nature, lavished by the 
hand of God, is the lofty tree of Liberty, planted 
by our fathers, which, without exaggeration, or 
even imagination, may be likened to 



the tree of life, 



High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit 
Of vegetable gold.' " 

The closing passages of this speech exhibit a 
high order of declamation : 

" The Prohibition of Slavery in the territory of 
Kansas and Nebraska stands on foundations of ad- 
amant, upheld by the early policy of the Fathers, 
by constant precedent, and time-honored compact. 
It is now in your power to overturn it ; }0u may 
remove the sacred landmark, and open the whole 
vast domain to Slavery. To you is committed this 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 117 

bio-h prerogative. Our fathers, on the eve of the 
Kevohiti<jn, set forth in burning words, among 
their grievances, that George III. 'in order to 
keep open a market where men should be bougbt 
and sold, bad prostituted bis negative for suppress- 
ing every legislative attempt to prohibit or re- 
strain this execrable commerce.' Sir, like the 
English monarcb, you may now prostitute your 
power to this same purpose. But you cannot es- 
cape the judgment of the world, nor the doom of 
bistory. 

" It will be in vain, that, while doing this tiling, 
you plead, in apology, the principle oi self-govern- 
ment, which you profess to recognize in tbe Terri- 
tories. Sir, this very princij^le, when truly ad- 
ministered, secures equal rights to all, without 
distinction of color or race, and makes Slavery 
impossible. By no rule of justice, and by no 
subtlety of political metaphysics, can the rigbt to 
hold a Icllow-man in bondage be regarded as es- 
sential to selfgovernment. The inconsistency is 
too flagrant. It is apparent on the bare statement. 
It is like saying two and two make three. In the 
name of Liberty you open tbe door to Slavery. 
With professions of Equal Eights on the lips, you 
trample on the rights of Human Nature. With a 
kiss upon the brow of that fair Territory, you be- 
tray it to wretchedness and shame. Well did the 



118 MEMOIR OF 

patriot soul exclaim, in bitter words, wrung out by 
bitter experience: ' O Liberty ! what crimes are 
clone in thy name !' 

"In vain, sir, yon will plead, that this measure 
proceeds from the North, as has been suggested by 
the Senator from Kentncky [Mr. Dixon]. Even 
if this were true, it wonld be no apology. But, 
precipitated as this Bill has been upon the Senate, 
at a moment of general calm, and in the absence 
of any controlling exigency, and then hurried to a 
vote in advance of the public voice, as if fearful 
of arrest, it cannot justly be called the oflf'spring 
of any popular sentiment. In this respect it dif- 
fers widely from the Missouri Prohibition, which, 
after solemn debate, extending through two ses- 
sions of Congress, and ample discussion before the 
people, was adopted. Certainly there is, as yet, 
no evidence that this attempt, though espoused by 
Northern politicians, proceeds from that Northern 
sentiment which throbs and glows, strong and 
fresh, in the schools, the churches, and homes of 
the people. Populi omnes ad aquilonem positi 
Libertatem quandam spirant. And could tlie 
abomination which you seek to perpetrate be now 
submitted to the awakened millions wliose souls 
liave been truly ripened under Northern skies, it 
would be flouted at once with indijrnant and un- 
dying scorn. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 119 

"But the race of men, 'white slaves of the 
North,' described and despised by a Southern 
statesman, is not yet extinct there, sir. It is one 
of the melancholy tokens of the power of Slavery, 
under our political system, and especially through 
the operations of the National Government, that it 
loosens and destroys the character of Northern 
men, exerting even its subtle influence at a dis- 
tance — like the black magnetic mountain in the 
Arabian story, under whose irresistible attraction 
the iron bolts, which held together the strong tim- 
bers of a stately ship, securely floating on the dis- 
tant W'ave, were drawn out, till the whole fell 
apart, and became a disjointed wreck. Alas ! too 
often those principles, which give consistency, in- 
dividuality, and form to the Northern character, 
which render it staunch, strong, and seaworthy, 
which bind it together as with iron, are sucked 
out, one by one, like the bolts of the ill-fated ves- 
sel, and from the miserable, loosened fragments is 
formed that human anomaly — a Northern man 
with Southern princijples. Sir — No such man can 
speak for the North." 

[Here there was an interruption of prolonged 
applause in the galleries.] 

Mr. Sumner made the final protest for himself, 
and the clergy of New England, against slavery 
in Nebraska and Kansas, on the night of the pas- 



120 MEMOIR OF 

sage of the Nebraska and Kansas Bill, May 25th, 
1854. In his speech on that occasion he said, 
with much force and seriousness : 

" Mr. President : — It is now midnight. At this 
late hour of a session drawn out to an unaccus- 
tomed length, I shall not fatigue the Senate by ar- 
gument. There is a time for all things, and the 
time for this has passed. The determination of 
the majority is fixed ; but it is not more fixed than 
mine. The Bill which they sustain, I oppose. 
On a former occasion I met it by argument, which, 
though often attacked in debate, still stands unan- 
swered and unanswerable. At present, I am ad- 
monished that I must be content with a few words 
of earnest protest against the consummation of a 
great wrong. Duty to myself, and also to the 
honored Commonwealth, of which I find myself 
the sole representative in this immediate exigen- 
cy, will not allow me to do less." * * * 

" In passing this Bill, as is now threatened, you 
scatter, from this dark midnight hour, no seeds of 
harmony and good-will, but broadcast through the 
land, dragon's teeth, which haply may not spring 
up in direful crops of armed men, but yet, I am 
assured, sir, will they fructify in civil strife and 
feud. 

" From the depths of my soul, as a loyal citizen 
and as a Senator, I plead, remonstrate, protest. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 121 

against the passage of this BilL I struggle against 
it as against deatli ; but, as in death itself, corrup- 
tion j)uts on incorruption, and this mortal body 
puts on immortality, so from the sting of this horn' 
I find assurances of that triumph by which Free- 
dom will be i-estored to her immortal birthright 
in the Kepublic. 

" S{)\ t/ie Bill which you are novj about to pass, 
is at once the worst and the hest Bill on which 
Congress ever acted. Yes, sir, w^orst and best at 
the same time. 

" It is the worst Bill, inasmuch as it is a present 
victory of Slavery. In a Christian land, and in an 
age of civilization, a time-honored statute of Free- 
dom is struck down, opening the way to all thf^ 
countless woes and wrongs of human bond"' ^. 
Among the crimes of history, another is"' ^,nt to 
be recorded, which no tears can bl'^ out, and 
which, in better days, will be read ,vith universal 
shame. Do not start. The T^^.i Tax and Stamp 
Act, Mhich aroused the patriot rage of our fathers, 
were virtues by the side of your transgression ; 
nor would it be easy to imagine at this day, any 
measure which more openly and perversely defied 
every sentiment of justice, humanity, and Chris- 
tianity. Am I not right, then, in calling it the 
worst Bill on which Congress ever acted ? 

" But there is another side to which I gladly 
11 



122 MEMOIR OF 

turn. Sir, it is the best Bill on which Congress 
ever acted ; for it annuls all past Comp^^oraises 
xoith Slavery^ and makes all future Compromises 
impossible. Thus it jDuts Freedom and Slavery 
face to face, and bids them grapple. Who can 
doubt the result ? It opens wide the door of the 
Future, when, at last, there will really be a North, 
and the Slave Power will be broken ; when this 
wretched Despotism will cease to dominate over 
our Government, no longer impressing itself upon 
every thing at home and abroad ; when the Na- 
tional Govei-nment shall be divorced in every way 
from Slavery, and, according to the true intention 
of our fathers. Freedom shall be established by 
Congress everywhere, at least beyond the local 
limits of the States. 

" Slavery will then be driven from its usurped 
foothold here in the District of Columbia, in the 
National Territories, and elsewhere beneath the 
National flag ; the Fugitive Slave Bill, as vile as 
it is unconstitutional, will become a dead letter; 
and the domesti« Slave-trade, so far as it can be 
reached, but especially on the high seas, will be 
blasted by Congressional Prohibition. Every- 
where within the sphere of Congress, the great 
Northern Hammer will descend to smite, the 
wrong ; and the irresistible cry will break forth, 
' No more Slave States !' 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 123 

" Thus, sir, now standing at the very grave of 
Freedom in Nebraska and Kansas, I lift myself 
to the vision of that happy resurrection, by which 
Freedom will be secured, not only in these Terri- 
tories, but everywhere under the National Gov- 
ernment. More clearly than ever before, I now 
penetrate that ' All-Hail-Hereafter,' when Sla- 
very must disappear. Proudly I discern the flag 
of my country, as it ripj^les in every breeze, at 
last become in reality, as in name, the Flag of 
Freedom — undoubted, pm-e, and irresistible. Am 
I not right, then, in calling this Bill the best on 
which Congress ever acted ? 

" Sorrowfully I bend before the wrong you are 
about to commit. Joyfully I welcome all the 
promises of the future." 



124 MEMOIR OF 



CHAPTER X. 

Delivers his speech in the Senate on the Boston Memorial for the 
'^Eepeal of the Fugitive Slave Bill, etc. — makes an address before 
the Mercantile Library Association of Boston — delivers his speech 
in the Senate, entitled the Demands of Freedom — Ri-peal of the 
Fugitive Slave Bill — pronounces an address at the Metropolitan 
Theatre, New York — eloquent extracts. 

On the 26th and 28th of June, 1854, Mr. Sum- 
ner delivered elocpent speeches in the Senate, on 
tlie Boston Memorial for the Kepeal of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Bill, and in reply to Messrs. Jones, of 
Tennessee, Butler, of South Carolina, and Mason, 
of Virginia. This speech contains a masterly de- 
fence of Massachusetts, and is full of interesting 
facts. It exliibits a high order of bold declama- 
tion. 

The next most important eftbrt of Mr. Sumner 
for the cause of human freedom was his memorable 
" Struggle for the Repeal of the Fugitive Slave 
Bill," in the Senate, July 31, 1854, when he showed 
in the clearest manner his remarkable ability as a 
parliamentary debater, and vindicated his position 
by unanswerable assertions. The proposition which 
he brought forward was as follows : 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 125 

" Provided^ that the Act of Congress, approved 
18th September, 1850, fur the surrender of fugi- 
tives from service or labor, be, and the same here 
by is repealed." After a long struggle the Senate 
refused to grant leave to introduce the Bill ; but 
it will be seen, in this instance, that, in order to 
cut off an effort to repeal the Fugitive Slave Bill, 
at least two unquestionable rules of parliamentary- 
law were overturned. For the firmness with which 
Mr. Sumner maintained his ground, and for the 
forcible eloquence with which be defended his 
proposition, he is entitled to the warmest thanks 
of all American citizens who are actuated by the 
liberty-loving spirit of their foreftithers. 

After the close of the Congressional session in 
1854, he addressed the Republican State Conven- 
tion, at "Worcester, Mass. (7th September, 1854), 
on The Duties of Massachusetts at the Present 
Crisis. It is hardly necessary to remind the citi- 
zens of that honored and patriotic State of the 
closing powerful sentiments of this speech. We 
trust that they will ever be inspired by such senti- 
ments, and be always found in the front ranks of 
freedom, struggling for those great principles which 
nerved the arm of their venerated fathers in the 
days of the Revolution. The speech closes in the 
following words : 

" By the passage of the Nebraska Bill, and the 



126 MEMOIR OF 

Boston kidnapping case, the tyranny of the Slave 
Power has become nnmistakably manifest, while, 
at the same time, all compromises with Slavery are 
hap[)ily dissolved, so that Freedom now stands face 
to face with its foe. The pnlpit, too, released from 
ill-omened silence, now thunders for Freedom, as 
in the olden time. It belongs to Massachnsetts — ■ 
nurse of the men and principles which made the 
earliest Eevolution — to vow herself anew to her 
ancient faith, as she lifts herself to the great struggle. 
Her place now, as of old, is in the van, at the head 
of the battle. But to sustain this advanced po- 
sition with proper inflexibility, three things are 
needed by our beloved Commonwealth, in all her 
departments of government — the same three things, 
which once in Faneuil Hall, I ventured to say 
were needed by every representative of the North 
at Washington. The first is hackhooie / the second 
is BACKBONE ; and the thiid is BACKBONE. 
With these, Massachusetts will be respected, and 
felt as a positive force in the National Government, 
while at home, on her own soil, free at last in reality 
as in name, all her people, from the islands of 
Boston to Berkshire hills, and from the sands of 
Barnstable to the northern line, will unite in the 
cry: 

' No slave Lnnt in our borders — no pirate on our strand ; 
No fetter on the Baj State ; no slave upon her laud.' " 



HON. CHARLES SU.MXER. 127 

On the 15th of ISTovemher, 1854, Mr. Sumner 
delivered his admirable address before the Mer- 
cantile Library Association of Boston, on The Po- 
sition and Duties of the Merchant / illustrated 
hy the Life of Granmlle Sharj?, This address was 
delivered in tones o^ feeling eloquence, and was 
listened to with much pleasure. It abounds in just, 
a2:)propriate, and beautiful thoughts, set forth in 
choice language. 

During the Congressional session of 1854-5, Mr. f 
Sumner made another strenuous effort for human 
rights. It will be remembered that on the 23d of 
February, 1855, on motion of Mr. Toucey, of Con- 
necticut, the Senate proceeded to the consideration 
of a " Bill to protect officers and other pei*sous 
acting under the authority of the United States," 
by which it was provided that " Suits commenced 
or pending in any State Court against any officer 
of the United States or other person, for or on ac- 
count of any act done under any law of the United 
States, or under color thereof, or for or on account 
of any right, authority, claim, or title, set up by 
such officer or other person, under any law of the 
United States," should be removed for trial to the 
Circuit Court of the United States. This afforded 
Mr. Sumner an excellent opportunity for pressing 
his proposition to repeal the Fugitive Slave Bill, 
and he immediately took the floor against Mr. 



/^ 



128 MEMOIR OF 

Toucey's Bill, and delivered his able speech, en- 
titled The Demands of Freedom — Rejpeal of the 
Fugitive Slave Bill. 

On the 9tli of May, 1S55, Mr. Sumner made an 
address before the people of New York, at the 
Metropolitan Theatre, On the Anti-Slavery En- 
terprise ; its necessity, practicability, and digni- 
ty, with glimpses at the special duties of the 
ISTortb. This effort was a magnificent display of 
spirit-stirring eloquence, and called forth the 
highest encomiums. 

The last great political speech of Mr. Sumner, 
at a popular meeting of freemen, was delivered 
on the evening of 2d November, 1855, in Faneuil 
Hall, Boston. His subject was The Slave Oligar- 
ch]/ and its Us^irjjations — the Outrages in Kan- 
sas — the different Political Parties — the Bejmh- 
lican Party. In this speech we have facts which, 
at this moment, should be duly considered by 
every northern man who loves freedom. Of this 
class is the following passage : 

"Fellow-citizens, I have said enough to stir 
you; but this humiliating tale is not yet finished. 
An Oligarchy seeking to maintain an outrage like 
Slavery, and drawing its inspirations from the 
fountain of wickedness, is naturally base, false, and 
heedless of justice. It is vain to expect that men, 
who have screwed themselves to become the pro- 



HON". CHARLES SUMNER. 129 

pagandists of this enormity, will be constrained by 
any compromise, compact, bargain, or plighted 
faith. As the less is contained in the greater, so 
there is no vileness of dishonesty, no denial of 
human rights, that is not plainly involved in the 
support of an enormity, which begins by changing 
man, created in the image of God, into a chattel, 
and sweeps little children away to the auction- 
block. A power which Heaven never gave, can 
be maintained only by means which Heaven can 
never sanction. And this conclusion of reason is 
confirmed by late experience ; and here I apjiroach 
the special question under which the country now 
shakes from side to side. The protracted struggle 
of 1820, known as the Missouri question, ended 
with the admission of Missouri as a slaveholding 
State, and the prohibition of Slavery in all the re- 
maining territory, west of the Mississippi and 
north of 36° 30'. Here was a solemn act of legis- 
lation, called at the time a compromise, a cove- 
nant, a compact, first brought forward by the 
Slave Oligarchy — vindicated by it in debate — 
finally sanctioned by its votes, also upheld at the 
time by a slave-holding President, James Monroe, 
and his cabinet — of whom a majoiity were slave- 
holders, including Mr. Calhoun himself — and made 
the condition of the admission of Missouri — with- 
out which that State could not have been received 



130 MEMOIR OF 

into the Union. Siidclenl}-, during the last year — • 
without any notice in tlie public press or the pray- 
er of a single petition — after an acquiescence of 
thirty three years, and the irreclaimable possession 
by the Slave Oligarchy of its special share in the 
provisions of this Comproniise — in violation of ev- 
ery obligation of honor, compact, and good neigh- 
borhood — and in contemptuous disregard of the. 
out-gushing sentiments of an aroused North, this 
time-honored Prohibition, in itself a Landmark of 
Freedom, was overturned, and the vast region, 
now known as Kansas and Nebraska, was opened 
to Slavery ; and this was done under the disgi-ace- 
ful lead of Northern politicians, and with the un- 
disguised complicity of a Northern President, for- 
getful of Freedom, forgetful also of his reitei-ated 
pledges, that during his administration the repose 
of the country should receive no shock. 

" And all this was perpetrated under pretences 
of popular rights. Freedom was betrayed by a 
kiss. In defiance of an uninterrupted prescription 
clown to our day — early sustained at the South as 
well as the North — leaning at once on Jefferson 
and "Washington — sanctioned by all the authorita- 
tive names of our history, and beginning with the 
great Ordinance by which Slavery was prohibited 
in the Northwest — it was pretended that the peo- 
ple of the United States, who are the proprietors 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 131 

of the national domain, and who, according to the 
Constitution, may ' make all needful rules and re- 
gulations' for its government, nevertheless were 
not its sovereigns — that they had no power to in- 
terdict Slavery there ; but that this eminent do- 
minion resided in the few settlers, called squatters, 
whom chance, or a desire to better their fortunes, 
first hurried into these places. To this precarious 
handful, sprinkled over immense spaces, it was 
left, without any constraint from Congress, to de- 
cide, whether into these vast, unsettled lands, as 
into the veins of an infant, should be poured the 
festering poison of Slavery, destined, as time ad- 
vances, to show itself in cancers and leprous dis- 
ease, or whether they should be filled with all the 
glowing life of Freedom. And this great power, 
transferred from Congress to these few settlers, 
was hailed by the new-fangled name of Squatter 
Sovereignty. 

" It was fit that the original outrage perpetrated 
under such pretences, should be follow^ed by other 
outrages perpetrated in defiance of these pretences. 
In the race of emigration, the freedom-loving free- 
men of the North promised to obtain the ascend- 
ency, and in the exercise of the conceded sover- 
eignty of the settlers, to prohibit Slavery. The 
Slave Oligarchy was aroused to other efforts. Of 
course it stuck at nothing. On the day of election 



132 MEMOIR OF 

when this vaunted popular sovereignty was first 
invoked, hirelings from Missouri, having no home 
in the territory, entered it in bands of fifties and 
hundreds, and assuming an electoral franchise to 
which they had no claim, trampled under foot the 
Constitution and laws. Violently, ruthlessly the 
polls were possessed by these invaders. The same 
Northern President, who did not shrink from un- 
blushing complicity in the original outrage, now 
assumed another comiDlicity. Though prompt to 
lavish the Treasurj^, the Army, and the Navy of 
the Republic in hunting a single slave through the 
streets of Boston, he could see the Constitution and 
laws, which he was sworn to protect, and those 
popular rights which he had afi^'ected to promote, 
all struck down in Kansas, and then give new 
scope to these invaders by the removal of the faith- 
ful Governor, — who had become obnoxious to the 
Slave Oligarchy because he would not become its 
tool, — and the substitution of another, who vindi- 
cated the dishonest choice by making haste, on his 
firet arrival there, to embrace the partisans of 
Slavery. The legislature, which was constituted 
by the overthrow of the electoral IVancliise, pro- 
ceeded to overthrow every safeguard of Freedom. 
At one swoop it adopted all the legislation of Mis- 
souri, including its Slave Code ; by another act it 
imposed unprecedented conditions upon the exer- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 133 

cise of the electoral franchise, and by still another 
act it denounced the punishment of death no less 
than five times against as many different forms of 
interference with the alleged property in human 
flesh, while all who only write or speak against 
Slavery are adjudged to be felons. Yes, fellow- 
citizens, should any person there presume to print 
or circulate the speech in which I now express my 
abhorrence of Slavery, and deny its constitutional 
existence anywhere wnthin the national jurisdiction, 
he would become liable under this act as a felon. 
And this overthrow of all popular rights is done 
in the name of Popular Sovereignty. Surely its 
authors follow well the example of the earliest 
Squatter Sovereign — none other than Satan — who, 
stealing into Eden, was there discovered, by the 
celestial angels, just beginning his work ; as Mil- 
ton tells us, 

' him there they found 



Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve.' 

"Would you know the secret of this unprece- 
dented endeavor, beginning with the repeal uf the 
Prohibition of Slavery down to the latest atrocity? 
The answer is at hand. It is not merely to pro- 
vide new markets for Slaves, or even to guard 
Slavery in Missouri, but to build another Slave 
State, and thus, by the presence of two additional 

12 



134 MEMOIR OF 

slaveholding Senators, to give increased prepon- 
derance to the Slave Oligarchy in the National 
Government. As men are murdered for the sake 
of their money, so is this territory blasted in peace 
and prosperity, in order to wrest its political influ- 
ence to the side of Slavery." 

The speech abounds with pertinent remarks on 
the Kepublican jmrty. Referring to its organiza- 
tion, he happily introduces this passage : 

" It was the sentiment of that great Apostle of 
Freedom, Benjamin Franklin, uttered during the 
trials of the Revolution, that, ' Where Liberty is, 
there is my country.' In similar strain, I would 
say, ' Where Liberty is, there is my party.' Such 
an organization is now happily constituted here in 
Massachusetts, and in all the Free States, under 
the name of the Republican Party." 

After stating the great object of the Republican 
party, he proceeds to answer the various objec- 
tions by which that party Jias been assailed. We 
introduce the closing passages which contain the 
answer to the last objection noticed, and a call 
npon men of all parties to come forward and sus- 
tain the great principles of freedom : 

" And yet again, it is objected that ours is a 
party of a siiigle idea. This is a phrase, and 
nothing more. The party may not recognize cer- 
tain measures of public policy, deemed by some 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 135 

of special importance ; but it does what is better, 
and what other parties fail to do. It acknow- 
ledges that beneficent principle, which, like the 
great central light, vivifies all, and without which 
all is dark and sterile. The moving cause and the 
animating soul of our party, is tlie idea of Free- 
dom. But this idea is manifold in character and 
influence. It is the idea of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. It is the great idea of the founders 
of the Republic. It is the idea which combined 
our Fathers on the heights of Bunker Hill ; which 
carried "Washington through a seven years' war ; 
which inspired Lafayette ; which touched with 
coals of fire the lips of Adams, Otis, and Patrick 
Henry. Ours is an idea, which is at least noble 
and elevating ; it is an idea which draws in its 
train virtue, goodness, and all the charities of life, 
all that makes earth a home of improvement and 
happiness : 

' Her track, where'er the goddess roves, 
Glory pursues, and generous sliame, 
The unconquerable mind and p'reedom's holy flame.' 

"Thus do all objections disappear, even as the 
mists of morning before the sun, rejoicing like a 
strong man to run his race. The Republican par- 
ty stands vindicated in every particular. It only 
remains that I should press the question wath 
which I began — ' Are you for Freedom, or are 



136 MEMOIR OF 

you for Slavery V As it is right to be tanglit by 
the enemy, let us derive instruction from the Oli- 
garchy we oppose. The three hundred and forty- 
seven thousand slave-masters are always united. 
Hence their strength. Like arruws in a qniver, 
they cannut be broken. The friends of Freedom 
have thus far been divided. They, too, must be 
united. In the crisis before us, it becomes you all 
to forget ancient feuds, and those names which 
have been the signal of strife. There is no occa- 
sion to remember any thing but our duties. When 
the fire-bell rings at midnight, we do not ask if it 
be Whigs or Democrats, Protestants or Catholics, 
natives or foreigners, wdio join our efforts to extin- 
guish the flames ; nor do we ask any such ques- 
tion in selecting our leader then. Men of all par- 
ties, Whigs and Democrats, or however named, 
let me call upon you to come forward and join in 
a common cause. Do not hesitate. When Free- 
dom is in danger, all who are not for her are 
against her. The penalty of indifference, in such 
a cause, is akin to the penalty of opposition ; as is 
well pictured by the great Italian poet, wdien, 
among the saddest on the banks of Acheron — 
rending the air with outcries of torment, shrieks 
of anger and smiting of hands — he finds the troop 
of dreary souls who had been ciphers only in the 
great conflicts of life : 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 137 

'Ming'led with whom, of their disgrace the proof, 
Are tl)e vile augels, who did not rebel, 
Nor liept their faith to God, but stood aloof.'' 

Come forth, then, from the okl organizations ; let 
lis range together. Come forth, all who have 
stood aloof from parties ; here is an opportunity 
for action. You who place principles above men ! 
come forward. All who feel in any way the wrong 
of Slavery, take your stand ! Join us, ye lovers 
of Truth, of Justice, of Humanity ! And let me 
call especially upon the yoimg. You are the nat- 
ural guardians of Liberty. In your firm resolves 
and generous souls she will find her surest protec- 
tion. The young man who is not willing to serve 
in her cause — to suffer, if need be, for her — gives 
little promise of those qualities which secure an 
honorable age. 

" Fellow-Citizens : — We found now a new par- 
ty. Its corner-stone is Freedom. Its broad, all- 
sustaining arches are Truth, Justice, and Humani- 
ty. Like the ancient Roman Capitol, at once a 
Temple and a Citadel, it shall be the fit shrine for 
the genius of American Institutions." 

12* 



138 M E M I II OF 



CHAPTER XL 

The late Session of Congress — Mr. Sumner delivers his great Speech 
on Kansas — the assault in the Senate chamber— Mr. Sumner's 
statement respecting it^- indignation meetings — remarks. 

The Conerressional Session of 1855-6 has been 
the most important, as well as the most painful 
and calamitous in the public career of Mr, Sum- 
ner. Ah ! the heart sickens as we draw near to 
contemplate that murderous act by which this 
illustrious Senator of a sovereign State was inhu- 
manly stricken down in the Senate chamber, while 
discharging faithfully his public duties. 

The absorbing question of the late session of 
Congress, as the intelligent reader well knows, 
was that touching the affairs in Kansas, particu- 
larly the outrages committed in that territory. 
On the 10th of March, 1856, Mr. Douglas intro- 
duced ''A Bill to authorize the peojjle of the Ter- 
ritory of Kansas to fui-ni a Constitution and State 
Government, and to provide for their admission 
into the Union, when they have the requisite pop- 
ulation." Shortly after, Mr. Seward moved, by 
way of substitute, another Bill, providing for im- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 139 

mediate action, and entitled " A Bill for the ad- 
mission of the State of Kansas into the Union." 
This gave rise to a warm and protracted debate, 
in the course of which, on the 19th and 20th ot 
May, Mr. Sumner made liis immortal Speech : — 
The Crime against Kansas — The Apologies for 
THE Crime — The True Remedy. 

It would only be expressing the opinion of able 
and impartial judges, to pronounce this speech 
one of the grandest efforts of modern oratory — one 
of the most commanding, iiTCsistible, and power- 
ful speeches ever made in the Senate of the United 
States. It wnll always rank with the imperishable 
efforts of Webster against Hayne, and those of 
Burke against Hastings. It is a speech of sur- 
passing eloquence and power, full of beautiful, 
forcible, and glowing passages — a continued stream 
of fervid oratory, keen in sarcasm, severe in invec- 
tive, irresistible in logic, and overpowering in ar- 
gumentation. One of the most admirable pas- 
sages in this speech is that on the defence of Mas- 
sachusetts — a passage which exhibits the loftiest 
strains of genuine, soul-stirring eloquence: 

" God be praised ! Massachusetts, honored Com- 
monwealth, that gives me the privilege to plead 
for Kansas on this floor, knows her rights, and 
will maintain them firmly to the end. This is 
not the first time in history, that her public acts 



140 MEMOIR OF 

have been arraigned, and that her public men 
have been exposed to contumely. Thus was it 
when, in the olden time, she began the great battle 
whose fruits you all enjoy. But never yet has she 
occupied a position so lofty as at this hour. By 
the intelligence of her population, by the resources 
of her industry — by her connnerce, cleaving every 
wave — by her manufactures, various as human 
sldll — by her institutions of education, various as 
human knowledge — by her institutions of benevo- 
lence, various as human suffering — by the pages 
of her scholars and historians — by the voices of 
her poets and orators, she is now exerting an in- 
fluence more subtile and commanding than ever 
before — shooting her far-darting rays wherever 
ignorance, wretchedness, or wrong prevail, and 
flashing light even upon those who travel far to 
persecute her. Such is Massachusetts^ and I am 
proud to helieve that you raay as well attempt^ 
with puny arm^ to topple down the earth-rooted^ 
heaven-hissing granite which crowns the historic 
sod of Bunker Hill^ as to change her fixed resolves 
for Freedom everyiohere^ and especially now for 
freedom in Kansas.^' I exult, too, that in this 
battle, which surpasses far in moral grandeur the 



* This is one of the grandest expressions that can be found in the 
sinnals of ancient or modern patriotic eloquence, and is an illustrious 
example of tlie very highest order of declamation. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 141 

whole war of the Revohition, slie is able to pre- 
serve lier just eminence. To the first she con- 
tributed a larger number of troops than any other 
State in the Union, and larger than all the Slave 
States together ; and now to the second, which is 
not of contending armies, but of contending opin- 
ions, on whose issue hangs trembling the advan- 
cing civilization of the country, she contributes, 
through the manifold and endless intellectual ac- 
tivity of her children, more of that divine spark 
by which opinions are quickened into life, than is 
contributed by any other State, or by all the Slave 
States together, while her annual productive in- 
dustry excels in value three times the whole 
vaunted cotton crop of the whole South, 

" Sir, to men on earth it belongs only to deserve 
success; not to secure it; and I know not how 
soon the efforts of Massachusetts will wear the 
crown of triumph. But it cannot be that she acts 
wrong for herself or childi-en, when in this cause 
she thus encounters reproach. Ko ; by the gener- 
ous souls who were exposed at Lexington ; by 
those who stood arrayed at Bunker Hill ; by the 
many from her bosom who, on all the fields of the 
first great struggle, lent their vigorous arms to the 
cause of all ; by the children she has borne, whose 
names alone are national trophies, is Massachusetts 
now vowed irrevocablv to this work. What be- 



14:2 MEMOIR OF 

longs to the faithful servant she will do in all 
things, and Providence shall determine the re- 
sult." 

The peroration also excels in commanding, digni- 
fied eloquence : 

" In just regard for free labor in that Territory, 
which it is sought to blast by unwelcome associa- 
tion with slave labor; in Christian sympathy with 
the slave, whom it is proposed to task and sell 
there ; in stern condemnation of the crime which 
has been consummated on that beautiful soil ; in 
rescue of fellow-citizens, now subjugated to a 
tyrannical Usurpation ; in dutiful respect for the 
early Fathers, whose inspirations are now ignobly 
thwarted ; in the name of the Constitution, which 
has been outraged — of the Laws ti-ampled down — 
of Justice banished — of Humanity degraded — of 
Peace destroyed — of Freedom crushed to earth ; 
and in the name of the Heavenly Father, whose 
service is perfect Freedom, I make this last ap- 
peal." 

This speech will always be regarded as one of 
the greatest oratorical efforts ever made, and it 
wnll also be remembered, by the latest posterity, 
as the occasion of one of the most brutal assaults 
ever committed. This outrage is fresh in the minds 
of all our citizens, and we will on]y repeat the 
leading facts in relation to it. On Thursday, May 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 143 

22d, two days after the conclusion of his great 
speech, Mr. Sumner, after the adjournment of the 
dav, was sitting in his chair in the Senate chamber, 
busily engaged in writing. Preston S. Brooks, a 
member of the House, from South Carolina, enter- 
ed the Senate chamber, and waited some twenty 
minutes till Mr. Sumner's friends had retired. He 
then approached Mr. Sumner, addressed him by 
name, and said : " I have read your speech twice, 
and carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and 
on Mr. Butler also, a relative of mine." No sooner 
had he uttered these words than he struck Mr, 
Sumner on the head with a heavy cane, and re- 
peated the blow a dozen or twenty times, till the 
thick gutta-percha stick was broken into many 
pieces. Mr. Sumner fell to the floor from the ef- 
fects of the first blow which cut a gash of three or 
four inches in length on his head. The merciless 
Brooks kept on his repeating heavy blows, while the 
blood was flowing freely from the wounds he had 
inflicted, staining the floor of the Senate chamber, 
and the adjoining desks. Mr. Sumner lay upon 
the floor in an unconscious state, his face and 
clothes covered with blood, and his head dread- 
fully bruised, till he was rescued by Mr. Morgan 
and Mr. Murray of the New York delegation. 
These gentlemen, being in the front ante-room, 
and hearing the noise, came into the Senate cham- 



144 MEMOIR OF 

ber, and immediately rushed forward to the scene 
of the murderous attack. Mr, Murray seized hold 
of Brooks, and Mr. Morgan went to the relief of 
the mangled and bleeding Senator. In the perpe- 
tration of this great outrage, Brooks was accom- 
panied by Mr. Keitt, of South Carolina, who stood 
by his side armed, and attempted to prevent inter- 
ference in behalf of Mr. Sumner. The assault was 
made in the presence of some fifteen or twenty 
persons, including Messrs. Crittenden, Toombs, 
Foster, Fitzpatrick, Iverson, Bright, Douglas, 
Pearce, Grej'er, Payne, several ofiicers of the Sen- 
ate, and some strangers. What is most surprising, 
none of the Senators present seemed to interfere, 
except Mr. Crittenden, who came forward and pro- 
nounced the assault an inexcusable outrage. 

This violent attack upon the person of Mr Sum- 
ner, to say the least of it, was that of a cowardly 
assassin. To steal upon a helpless, unarmed man, 
and, without giving him the least warning, to beat 
him till insensible, and after he is insensible to re- 
peat the blows, is certainly an evidence of great 
cowardice. I^o truly brave man would act thus. 
Well did Mr, Burlingame, in his able speech in 
the House, refer to this most brutal assault, when 
he exclaimed in the following bold and truthful 
language : 

' On tlie 22d day of May, when the Senate and 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 145 

the House had clothed themselves in mourning for 
a brother fallen in the battle of life in the distant 
State of Missouri, the Senator from Massachusetts 
sat, in the silence of the Senate chamber, engaged 
in em]iloyments appertaining to his office, when a 
member from this House, who had taken an oath 
to sustain the Constitution, stole into the Senate — 
that place which had hitherto been held sacred 
against violence — and smote him as Cain smote his 
brother. * * * * One blow was enough ; 
but it did not satiate the wrath of that spirit which 
had pursued him through two days. Again, and 
again, and again,' quicker and faster, fell the leaden 
blows, until he was torn away from his victim, 
when the Senator from Massachusetts fell into the 
arms of his friends, and his blood ran down the 
Senate floor. Sir, the act was brief, and my com- 
ments on it shall be brief also. I denounce it in 
the name of the sovereignty of Massachusetts, which 
was stricken down by the blow; I denounce it in 
the name of humanity; I denounce it in the name 
of civilization, which it outraged! I denounce it 
in the name of that fair play which buMies and 
prizefighters respect. What! strike a man when 
he is pinioned— when he cannot respond to-a blow! 
Call you that chivalry? In what code ^.''-f honor 
did you get your authority for that." 

A few days after the assault, Mr. Sumner made 

13 



146 MEMOIR OF 

a statement with regard to it, before the House 
Committee of Investigation. He was not able to 
sit up during the examination, and gave the fol- 
lowing testimony in bed : 

" I attended the Senate as usual on Thursday, 
the 22d of May. After some formal business, a 
message was received from the House of Repre- 
sentatives, announcing the death of a member of 
that body from Missouri. This was followed by a 
brief tribute to the deceased from Mr. Geyer, of 
Missouri, when, according to usage and out of 
respect to the deceased, the Senate adjourned at 
once. Listead of leaving the Senate chamber 
with the rest of the Senators, on the adjournment, 
I continued in my seat, occupied with my pen, 
and while thus intent, in order to be in season for 
the mail, which was soon to close, I was ap- 
proached by several persons, who desired to con- 
verse with me, but I answered them promptly and 
briefly, excusing myself for the reason that I was 
engaged. "When the last of these persons left me, 
I drew my arm-chair close to my desk, and with 
my legs under the desk continued writing. 

" My attention at this time was so entirely 
drawn from all other subjects that, though there 
must have been many persons in the Senate, I 
saw nobody. While thus intent, with my head 
bent over my writings, I was addressed by a per- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 147 

son who approached the front of my desk : I was 
so entirely absorbed, that I was not aware of his 
presence initil I heard my name pronounced. As 
I h»oked np with pen in hand, I saw a tall man, 
whose countenance was not familiar, standing di- 
rectly over me, and at the same moment canglit 
these words: ' I have read your speech twice over, 
carefully; it is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. 
Butler, who is a relative of mine.' While these 
words were still passing from his lips, he com- 
menced a succession of blows with a heavy cane 
on my bare head, by the first of which I was 
stunned so as to lose my sight, I saw no longer 
my assailant, nor any other person or object in the 
room. "What I did afterwards was done almost 
unconscioush', acting under the instincts of self- 
defence. "With head already bent down, I rose 
from my seat — wrenching up my desk, which was 
screwed to the floor — and then pressing forward, 
while my assailant continued his blows. I had 
no other consciousness until I found myself ten 
feet forward in front of my desk, lying on the floor 
of the Senate, with my bleeding head supported 
on the knee of a gentleman whom I soon recog- 
nized, by voice and maimer, as Mr. Morgan, of 
Kew York, Other persons there were about me, 
ofiei-iuiT me friendly assistance, but I did not rec- 
ognize any of them. Others there were at a dis- 



148 MEMOIR OF 

tance, looking on and offering no assistance, of 
whom I recognized only Mr, Douglas, of Illinois, 
Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, and I thought also mj 
assailant standing betAveen them. I was helped 
from the floor, and conducted into the lobby of 
the Senate, where I was placed upon a sofa. Of 
those who helped me here I have no recollection. 
As I entered the lobby, I recognized Mr. Slid ell, 
of Louisiana, who retreated, but I recognized no 
one else until I felt a friendly grasp of the hand, 
which seemed to come from Mr, Campbell, of Ohio. 
I have a vague iuipression that Mr. Bright, Presi- 
dent of the Senate, spoke to me while I was on the 
floor of the lobby, I make this statement in 
answer to the interrogatory of the Committee, and 
offer it as presenting completely all my recollec- 
tions of the assault and of the attending circum- 
stances, whether immediately before or immedi- 
ately after. I desire to add, that besides the words 
which I have given as uttered by my assailant, I 
have an indistinct recollection of the words 'old 
man ;^ but these are so enveloped in the mist 
M'hich ensued from the first blow, that I am nut 
sure whether they were uttei'ed or not." 

'"On the cross-examination of Mf. Sunmer, he 
stated that he was entirely without arms of any 
kind, and that he had no notice or warning of any 
kind, direct or indirect, of this assault. 



HON. CHAELES SUM NEE. 149 

"In answer to a cross-question, Mr. Sumner re- 
plied that what he had said of Mr. Butler was 
strictly responsive to Mr. Butler's speeches, and 
according to the usages of parliamentary debate.'' 

Messrs. Brooks and Keitt were severely cen- 
sured by the House, and resigned their seats. 
May the presence of such Representatives no 
longer disgrace the Congress of these United 
States. Truth compels us to say, that men in an 
official capacity, in this enlightened age and free 
country, who thus resort to brute force, are only 
fit to be the representatives of uncivilized, un- 
christianised governments, where freedom of the 
cudgel, and not freedom of speech, is an established 
principle. 

Mr. Sumner has suffered intensely from the ef- 
fects of his wounds, and still continues at the time 
we wjite (October 7th, 1856), in a very critical 
condition. It is to be hoped that he may yet be 
able to resume his seat in the Senate, where his 
presence is much needed. 

In concluding our coanments on the Sumner 
Outrage, we must say tjiat the cowai'dly attempt 
of Brooks to beat down fi'eedom of speech, has 
done more to arouse the citizens of the Northern 
States, and to make them realize the inestimable 
value of human liberty, than any other event of 
the past twenty years. Large indignation meet- 

13* 



150 MEMOIR OF 

ings have been held in many cities and towns at 
the North, — in Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, 
Salem, Newburyport, Lowell, &c., in Massachu- 
setts; Manchester, Concord, New Market, &c., in 
New Hampshire ; Portland, Bangor, &c., in Maine ; 
Burlington, Montpelier, ifec, in Vermont ; Hart- 
ford, New Haven, &c., in Connecticut ; New 
York City, Brooklyn, Troy, Albany, Utica, Syra- 
cuse, Auburn, Rochester, Buffalo, Poughkeepsie, 
&c., in New York ; Cleveland, Columbus, Cincin- 
nati, &c., in Ohio ; Chicago, in Illinois, and many 
other places. 

Such an assault as that committed upon Mr. 
Sumner, instead of suppressing the spirit of liberty, 
will only tend to infuse and circulate it more ex- 
tensively. Brute violence cannot confine or de- 
stroy that glorious principle which glows in the 
hearts of freemen. Among the noblest sentiments 
that ever came from the lips of the eloquent Kos- 
suth, were those which he uttered in thrilling 
tones, when standing on Bunker Hill, and speak- 
ing of the gushing fountain of liberty. He said : 
" Its waters will flow ; every new drop of mar- 
tyr BLOOD WILL INCREASE THE TIDE. DeSPOTS MAY 
DAM ITS FLOOD, BUT NEVER STOP IT. ThE HIGHER ITS 
DAM, THE HIGHER THE TIDE J IT WILL OVERFLOW, OK 
BREAK THROUGH." 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 151 



CHAPTER XII. 

Oratorical character of Mr. Sumner — his person — his delivery — his 
voice — his intellect — his learning — his imagination, &c. — his love 
of freedom — his style of composition — compared to Fisher Ames 
— concluding remarks. 

We proceed to delineate the oratorical character 
of Mr. Sutnner — to mention some of the grand and 
prominent qualities of his sweet, persuasive elo- 
quence. Possessing most of those high character- 
istics which are requisite in the formation of a 
natural orator, he is one of the most graceful and 
accomplished of our public speakers. 

In the first place, he is favored with a noble, 
commanding person, every way well-proportioned, 
with a dignified countenance and attractive eyes, 
indicative of intelligence and sensibility. When 
excited in debate, his eye brightens and becomes 
almost radiant with what is passing within.* 
What force does the beaming, piercing eye of an 
accomplished orator add to his eloquent effusions ! 
Chatham and Erskine are illustrious examples of 

* Ab the countenance is the image of the mind, so are the eyes 
the informers as to what is going on within it, — Cicero. 



152 MEMOIEOF 

this. It is said that much of the force and splen- 
dor of their eloquence arose from the fire of their 
eye, and the animation of their countenance. By 
a single glance of scorn or contemj^t, Chatham 
was often able to overwhelm his opponents with 
terror, and throw them into confusion, in the 
midst of their own speeches ; and of the piercing 
keenness and power of Erskine's eye. Brougham 
remarks : " Juries have declared that they felt it 
impossible to remove their looks from him, when 
he had riveted, and, as it were, fascinated them 
by his first glance." 

The first and most important requisite to genuine 
eloquence, is a good delivery: the '•''action — ac- 
tion — action'''' of Demosthenes. It is to such a 
delivery that Mr. Sunnier owes, in an eminent 
degree, his success as an orator. In public ad- 
dress his manner is captivating ; his gestures are 
graceful, animated, and often vehement, and every 
motion is made with suitable dignity, and only 
when necessary to produce an efiect. The princi- 
pal attractions of his oratory, as is the case with 
that of all accomplished public speakers, centre 
in delivery; and, with reference to his manner, 
we may say : 

" There's a charm in delivery, a raatfical art, 
That thrills, like a kiss, from the lip to the heart; 
'Tis the glance — the expression — the well-chosen word — 
By whose magic the depths of the spirit are stirred — 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 153 

The smile — the mute gesture — the soul-stirring pause— 
The eye's sweet expression, that melts while it awes — 
The lip's soft persuasion — its musical tone : 
Oh ! such are the charms of that eloquent one !" 

Another distinguishing quality which adds grace 
to Mr. Sumner's oratory, is a singularly sweet* 
and melodious voice, whose tones are perfectly 
suited to descrijitive, pathetic, indignant, and im- 
passioned declamation. An orator must possess a 
voice which is easily accommodated to every va- 
riety of use, or else he will fail to produce the 
most powerful impressions upon an audience. 
There is something very seductive and thrilling in 
the full, rich, base voice of Mr. Sumner, and his 
melodious tones have repeatedly enchained large 
and brilliant assemblies. A hearer might well 
say, as he listens to the charming accents of his 
musical voice : 

" Thy sweet words drop upon the ear as soft 
As rose leaves on a well : and I could listen, 
As though the immortal melody of Heaven 
Were wrought into one word— that word a whisper, 
Tliat whisper all I want from all I love." 

Without regard to the words which he utters, it 
is pleasing to listen to a speaker whose voice pos- 
sesses a great variety of note, softness of sound, 
and melody of tone. There is a magic in this, 
which sways our feelings and thrills our very souls. 

* The voice requires to be sweet as well as strong, in an accom- 
plished orator. — Quintilvan. 



15i MEMOIR OF 

Lord Erskiue's voice was one of surpassing sweet- 
ness, richness, and melody ; and so was that of 
those other renowned orators and statesmen, Patrick 
Henry, Chatham, Sheridan, Ames, and Clay. 
Much of the sj^lendor and fascination of their 
eloquence came from their tones of music, which 
stirred the spirit of their auditors like the notes of 
some heavenly instrument visited ever and anon 
by " an angel touch." A clear, strong, musical 
voice, capable of expressing all human feelings and 
passions, is among the most desirable qualities in 
the formation of a consummate orator. " A good 
voice," says Cicero, " is a thing to be desired ; for 
it is not naturally implanted in us, but practice 
and use give it to us. Therefore, the consummate 
orator will vary and change his voice ; and some- 
times straining it, sometimes lowering it, he will go 
through every degree of tone." 

We regard the voice of Mr. Sumner as one of 
the most charming attributes of his eloquence : its 
variations are truly captivating, and its base tones 
thrill through one's whole frame like the blast of 
a bugle. 

His words have such a melting flow, 
And speak of truth so sweetly well, 
They drop like heaven's serenest snow, 
And all is brightness where they full. 

Mr. Sumner possesses a mind of the highest 
order, capable of embracing the widest range of 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 155 

thought, and it is richly stored with all those intel- 
lectual treasures which grace oratory and add to 
its power. In almost every department of human 
kno^dedge he is quite at home. In the science of 
law, classical literature, and universal history he 
has but few equals. His knowledge of the ancient 
classics, and the facility and fluency with which 
he can quote from them, is certainly extraordinary. 
In short, he is one of the ripest scholars that our 
country has produced ; and where can we find one 
in whom is united, in a more eminent degree, those 
qualities which Cicero, in his admirable Treatise 
on Oratory^ describes as belonging to an eloquent 
and accomplished orator ? Says he : " The foun- 
dation of eloquence, as of all other things, is wis- 
dom. The orator must be a master of civil law, 
which forensic debates are in daily need of. For 
what is more shameful than for a man to undertake 
the conduct of legal and civil disputes, while ig- 
norant of the statutes and of civil law ? He must 
be acquainted also with the history of past ages 
and the chronology of old time, especially, indeed, 
as far as our owm State is concerned ; but also he 
must know the history of despotic governments 
and of illustrious monarchs. * * * For not 
to know what happened before one was born, is to 
be a boy all one's life. For what is the life of a 
man unless by a recollection of bygone transactions 



156 MEMOIR OF 

it is united to the times of his predecessors ? But 
the mention of antiquity and the citation of ex- 
amples give authority and credit to a speech, com- 
bined with the greatest j)leasure to the hearereii' 

"Sumner, from thy well-ordered mintl there grows 
The wondrous fount of learninij manifold ; 
Thine eloquence o'er stores of wisdom flows, 
Like a broad river over sands of gold." 

Mr. Sumner possesses a vivid and powerful im- 
agination, a remarkably retentive memory, and 
strong argumentative powers, which admirably fit 
him for the arena of debate. 

His oratory derives additional force and splendor 
from the source whence it is drawn. Like Demos- 
thenes and Cicero, he imbibes his political prin- 
ciples at the inspiriting fountain-head of Libkkty". 
No object is dearer to him than that which tends 
to promote the peace and happiness, the ameliora- 
tion and freedom, the moral and intellectual eleva- 
tion of the human race. This, as we have plainly 
seen, has been the grand source whence have ori- 
ginated the most of those beautiful and thrilling 
sentiments which abound in his speeches, and 
which will never die. 

It has been said that Gen. "Warren was a power- 
ful orator, because he was a true man, and struggled 
for man's highest rights. The same may be said, 
with as much truth and appropriateness, of Charles 
Sumner. He also is an effective S23eaker, because 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 157 

he is a true man, and struggles nobly for the high- 
est rights which belong to all men. Liberty is the 
one grand subject which he has ever loved to con- 
template, and to set forth with all the enchantment 
of his irresistible eloquence. 

" 'Tis liberty aloue tliat gives the flower 
Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, 
And all are weeds without it. All constraint, 
Except what wisdom lays on evil men. 
Is evil ; hurts the faculties, impedes 
Their progress in the road of science ; blinds 
The eyesight of Discovery ; and begets 
In those that suffer it a sordid mind, 
Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit 
To be the tenant of man's noble form.". 

Tlie style of Mr. Sumner's composition is worthy 
of particular notice, in an estimate of his oratorical 
genius. It is remarkably clear, terse, strong, and 
beautiful : his periods are generally full and flow- 
ing, and his words admirably chosen and well ar- 
ranged. Among rhetoricians he stands in the fore- 
most rank, and his style, thougli not entirely free 
from faults, will long be regarded as among the 
most perfect models, which our literature affords, 
for the study and imitation of the student of ora- 
tory. His composition abounds in an exuberance 
of classical allusion, which has been the subject of 
frequent and severe criticism. 

It may as truly be said of Mr. Sumner, as has 
been remarked of Fisher Ames : " His eloquence 
is generally flowing and delightful, rising at times 

14 



158 MEMOIR, ETC. 

to passages of great power and pathos — and con- 
veyed always in a diction remarkably correct, terse, 
and beautiful. Like Burke, he is distinguished by 
pliilosophic and comprehensive views. Such is 
the skill with which he draws from human nature, 
and from history, his lessons of political wisdom, 
that his orations and writings are as instructive as 
they are pleasing." And it has been well remarked 
that his orations and speeches will live as long as 
liberty and humanity continue to be the prey of 
despotism and cruelty ; and his principles will live 
and burn in the bosoms of liberty's own apostles, 
so long as war, violence, and slavery shall be per- 
mitted to shower their curses upon the world. 

In conclusion, what we most admire in Charles 
Sumner is his noble and majestic form — his bland 
and dignified manner — his appropriate and grace- 
ful gestures — his rich and mellifluous voice — his 
grand and elegant diction — his fervid and brilliant 
eloquence — his deep and stirring pathos — his sound 
and irresistible logic — his masterly and overpower- 
ing argumentation — his varied accomplishments 
in literature — his genial courtesy of manners — his 
warm and kind disposition, and above all, his strong, 
abiding love of Justice, Humanity, and Feeedom. 



%\t €xmt apinst Kansas. 

THE APOLOGIES FOR THE CRIME: 

THE TRUE REMEDY. 



SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 

IN THE 

SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 

19th & 20th mat, 1856. 



SPEECH. 



Mr. Peesident : 

You are now called to redress a great ti'ans- 
gression. Seldom in the history of nations has 
such a question been presented. Tariffs, army 
bills, navy bills, land bills, are important, and justly 
occupy your care ; but these all belong to the 
course of ordinary legislation. As means and in- 
struments only, they are necessarily subordinate to 
the conservation of government itself Grant them 
or deny them, in greater or less degree, and you 
will inflict no shock. The machinery of government 
will continue to move. The State will not cease 
to exist. Far otherwise is it with the eminent 
question now before you, involving, as it does, 
liberty in a broad Territory, and also involving the 
peace of the whole country, with our good name 
in history for evermore. 

Take down your map, sir, and you will find 
that the Territory of Kansas, more than any other 
region, occupies the middle spot of North Ameri- 
ca, equally distant from the Atlantic on the east, 

14* 



162 SPEECH OF 

and the Pacific on the west ; from the frozen 
waters of Hudson's Bay on the north, and the 
tepid Gulf Stream on the south, constituting the 
precise territorial centre of the whole vast conti- 
nent. To such advantages of situation, on the 
very highway between two oceans, are added a 
soil of unsurpassed richness, and a fascinating, 
undulating beauty of surface, with a health-giving 
climate, calculated to nurture a powerful and gen- 
erous people, worthy to be a central pivot of 
American institutions. A few short months only 
have passed since this spacious mediterranean 
country was opened only to the savage, who ran 
wild in its woods and jirairies ; and now it has 
already drawn to its bosom a population of free- 
men larger than Atliens crowded within her his- 
toric gates, when her sons, under Miltiades, won 
liberty for mankind on the field of Marathon ; 
more than Sparta contained, when she ruled 
Greece, and sent forth her devoted children, 
quickened by a mother's benediction, to return 
with their shields or on them ; more than Rome 
gathered on her seven hills, when, under her 
kings, she commenced that sovereign sway, which 
afterwards embraced the whole earth ; more than 
London held, when, on the fields of Crecy and 
Agincourt, the English banner was carried vic- 
toriously over the chivalrous hosts of France. 



HON, CHARLES SUMNER. 163 

Against this territory, thus fortunate in position 
and population, a Crime has been committed 
which is without example in the records of the 
past. Not in plundered provinces, or in the cruel- 
ties of selfish governors, will you find its parallel ; 
and yet there is an ancient instance, which may 
show, at least, the path of justice. In the terrible 
impeachment by which the great Roman orator 
has blasted, through all time, the name of Yerres, 
amidst charges of robbery and sacrilege, the 
enormity which most aroused the indignant voice 
of his accuser, and which still stands forth with 
strongest distinctness, arresting the sympathetic in- 
dignation of all who read the story, is, that, away 
in Sicily, he had scourged a citizen of Rome — 
that the cry, " I am a Roman citizen," had been 
interposed in vain against the lash of the tyrant 
governor. Other charges were, that he had car- 
ried away productions of art, and that he had vi- 
olated the sacred shrines. It was in the presence 
of the Roman Senate that this ari-aignment pro- 
ceeded ; in a temple of the Forum ; amidst 
crowds, siich as no orator had ever before drawn 
together, thronging the porticoes and colonnades, 
even clinging to the house-tops and neighboring 
slopes, and under the anxious gaze of witnesses 
summoned from the scene of crime. But an audi- 
ence grander far, of higher dignity, of more vari- 



164 SPEECH OF 

ous people and of wider intelligence, — the count- 
less multitude of succeeding generations, in every 
land where eloquence has been studied, or where 
the Koman name has been recognized, — has list- 
ened to the accusation, and throbbed with con- 
demnation of the criminal. Sir, speaking in an 
age of light and in a land of constitutional liberty, 
where the safeguards of elections are justly placed 
among the highest triumphs of civilization, I fear- 
lessly assert that the wrongs of much-abused 
Sicily, thus memorable in history, were small by 
the side of the wrongs of Kansas, where the very 
shrines of popular institutions, more sacred than 
any heathen altar, have been desecrated ; where 
the ballot-box, more precious than any work in 
ivory or marble, from the cunning hand of art, 
has been plundered ; and where the cry, " I am an 
American citizen," has been interposed in vain 
against outrage of every kind, even upon life 
itself. Are you against sacrilege? — I present it 
for your execration. Are you against robbery ? — 
I hold it up for your scorn. Are you for the 
protection of American citizens? — I show you how 
their dearest rights have been cloven down, while 
a tyrannical usurpation has sought to install itself 
on their very necks ! 

But the wickedness which I now begin to ex- 
pose is immeasurably aggravated by the motive 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 165 

which prompted it. Not in any common hist for 
power did this uncommon tragedj have its origin. 
It is the rape of a virgin Territory, compelling it to 
the hateful embrace of Slavery ; and it may be 
clearly traced to a depraved longiug for a new 
slave State, the hideous offspring of such a crime, 
in the hope of adding to the power of Slavery in 
the National Government. Yes, sir, when the 
whole world, alike Christian and Turk, is rising 
up to condemn this wrong, and to make it a hiss- 
ing to the nations, here in our Republic, fwce — 
ay, sir, FORCE — has been openly employed in 
compelling Kansas to this pollution, and all for 
the sake of political power. Tliere is the simple 
fact, which you will vainly attempt to deny, but 
which in itself presents an essential wickedness 
that makes other public crimes seem like public 
virtues. 

But this enormity, vast beyond comparison, 
swells to dimensions of wickedness which the 
imagination toils in vain to grasp, when it is un- 
derstood that for this purpose are hazarded the 
horrors of intestine feud, not only in this distant 
Territoi-y, but everywhere throughout the country. 
Ali'cady the muster has begun. The strife is no 
longer local, but national. Even now, while I 
speak, portents liang on all the arches of the hori- 
zon, threatening to darken the broad land, which 



166 SPEECH OF 

already yawns with the mutterings of civil war. 
The fuiy of the propagandists of Slavery, and the 
calm determination of their opponents, are now 
diffused from the distant Teri-itory over wide- 
spread communities, and tlie whole country, in 
all its extent — marshalling hostile divisions, and 
foreshadowing a strife, which, unless happily avert- 
ed by the triumph of Freedom, will become war 
— fratricidal, parricidal M^ar — with an accumulated 
wickedness beyond the wickedness of any war in 
human annals ; justly provoking the avenging 
judgment of Providence and the avenging pen of 
history, and constituting a strife, in the language 
of the ancient writer, more than foreign^ more 
than social, more than civil j but something com- 
pounded of all these strifes, and in itself more than 
war — sed jpotius commv/ne quoddam ex omnibus, 
etplusquam helium,. 

Such is the Crime which you are to judge. 
But the criminal also must be dragged into day, 
that you may see and measure the power by 
which all this wrong is sustained. From no com- 
mon source could it proceed. In its perpetration 
was needed a spirit of vaulting ambition which 
would hesitate at nothing ; a hardihood of purpose 
which was insensible to the judgment of mankind ; 
a madness for Slavery, which should disregard the 
constitution, the laws, and all the great examples 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 167 

of our history ; also a consciousness of power such 
as conies from the habit of power ; a combination 
of energies found only in a hundred arms directed 
by a hundred eyes; a control of Public Opinion, 
thruug'li venal pens and a prostituted press ; an 
ability to subsidize crowds in every vocation of 
life — the politician with his local importance, the 
lawyer with his subtle tongue, and even the autho- 
rity of the judge on the bench ; and a familiar use 
of men in places high and low, so that none, from 
the President to the lowest border postmaster, 
should decline to be its tool ; — all these things and 
more were needed ; and they were found in the 
Slave PoM'er of our Republic. There, sir, stands 
the criminal — all unmasked before you — heartless, 
grasping, and tyrannical — with an audacity beyond 
that of Verres, a subtlety' beyond that of Machiavel, 
a meanness beyond that of Bacon, and an ability 
beyond that of Hastings. Justice to Kansas can 
be secured only by the prostration of this influ- 
ence ; for this is the Power behind — greater than 
any President — which succors and sustains the 
Crime. Nay, the proceedings I now arraign de- 
rive their fearful consequence only from this con- 
nection. 

In now opening this great matter, I am not in- 
sensible to the austere demands of the occasion ; 
but the dependence of the crime against Kansas 



168 SPEECH OF 

upon the Slave Power is so peculiar and impor- 
tant, that I trust to be pardoned while I impress it 
by an illustration, which to some may seem trivial. 
It is related in Northern mythology, that the god 
of Force, visiting an enchanted region, was chal- 
lenged by his royal entertainer to what seemed a 
humble feat of strength — merely, sir, to lift a cat 
from the ground. The god smiled at the chal- 
lenge, and, calmly placing his hand under the 
belly of the animal, with superhuman strength, 
strove, while the back of the feline monster arched 
far upwards, even beyond reach, and one paw ac- 
tually forsook the earth, until at last the discom- 
fited divinity desisted ; but he was little sur[)rised 
at his defeat, when he learned that this creature, 
which seemed to be a cat, and nothing more, was 
not merely a cat, but that it belonged to and was 
a part of the great Terrestrial Serjeant, which, in 
its innumerable folds, encircled the M-hole globe. 
Even 80 the creature, whose paws are now fasten- 
ed upon Kansas, whatever it may seem to be, con- 
stitutes in reality a part of the Slave Power, which, 
with loathsome folds, is now coiled about the whole 
land. Thus do I expose the extent of the present 
contest, where we encounter not mei'ely local re- 
sistance, but also the unconquered sustaining arm 
behind. But out of the vastness of the Crime at- 
tempted, with all its woe and shame, I derive a 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 169 

well-funndecl assurance of a commensurate vastness 
of eftbrt against it, by the aroused masses of the 
country, determined not only to vindicate Right 
against Wrong, but to redeem the Republic from 
the thraldom of that Oligarchy, which prompts, 
directs, and concentrates, the distant wrong. 

Such is the Crime, and such the criminal, which 
it is my duty in this debate to expose ; and, by the 
blessing of God, this duty shall be done complete- 
ly to the end. But this will not be enough. The 
Apologies, which, with strange hardihood, have 
been offered fur the Crime, must be toi'n away, so 
that it shall stand forth, without a single rag, or 
fig-leaf, to cover its vileness. And, finally, the 
True Remedy nmst be shown. The subject is com- 
plex in its relations, as it is transcendent in im- 
portance ; and yet, if I am honored by your atten- 
tion, I hope to exhibit it clearly in all its parts, 
while I conduct you to the inevitable conclusion 
that Kansas must be admitted at once, with her 
present constitution, as a State of this Union, and 
give a new star to the blue field of our national 
flag. And here I derive satisfaction from the 
tliought, that the cause is so strong in itself as to 
bear even the infii'uiities of its advocates ; nor can 
it require any thing beyond that simplicity of 
treatment and moderation of manner which I de- 
sire to cultivate. Its true character is such, that, 

15 



170 SPEECH OF 

like Hercules, it will conquer just so soon as it is 
recognized. 

Mj task will be divided nnder three different 
heads : fi/'st^ the Crime agaestst Kansas, in its 
origin and extent ; secondly^ the Apologies fok 
THE Crime ; and, thirdly^ the True Remedy. 

But, before entering upon the argument, I must 
say something of a general character, particularly 
in response to what has fallen from senators who 
have raised themselves to eminence on this floor 
in championsliij) of human wrongs ; I mean the 
senator from South Carolina [Mr. Bdtler], and 
the senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas], who, 
though unlike as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, 
yet, like this couple, sall}^ forth together in the 
same adventure. I regret much to miss the elder 
senator from his seat; but the cause against which 
he has run a tilt with such activity of animosity 
demands that the opportunity of exposing him 
should not be lost ; and it is for the cause that I 
speak. The senator from South Carolina has read 
many books of chivalry, and believes himself a 
chivalrous knight, with sentiments of honor and 
courage. Of coui-se he has chosen a mistress to 
whom he has made his vows, and who, though 
ugly to others, is always lovely to him ; though 
polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his 
sight ; — I mean the harlot Slavery. For her his 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 171 

tongue is always profuse with words. Let her be 
impeached in character, or any proposition made 
to shut her out from the extension of her wanton- 
ness, and no extravagance of manner or hardihood 
of assertion is then too great for this senator. The 
phrensy of Don Quixote in behalf of his wench 
Dulcinea del Toboso is all sm'passed. The assert- 
ed rights of Slavery, which shock equality of all 
kinds, are cloaked by a fantastic claim of equality. 
If the slave States cannot enjoy what, in mockery 
of the great fathers of the Eepublic, he misnames 
equality under the Constitution, — in other words, 
the full poM-er in the National Territories to com- 
pel fellow-men to unpaid toil, to separate husband 
and wife, and to sell little children at the auction- 
block, — then, sir, the chivalric senator will conduct 
the State of South Carolina out of the Union ! 
Heroic knight! Exalted senator! A second Moses 
come for a second exodus ! 

But, not content witli this poor menace, which 
we have been twice told was " measured," the sen- 
ator, in the unrestrained chivalry of his nature, 
has undertaken to apply opprobrious words to those 
who differ from him on this floor. He calls them 
" sectional and fanatical ;" and opposition to the 
usurpation in Kansas he denounces as " uncalcu- 
latiug fanaticism." To be sure, these charges lack 
all grace of originality, and all sentiment of truth; 



172 SPEECH OF 

but the adventnrons senator does not hesitate. He 
is the unconiproniising, unblushing representative 
on this tloor of a flagrant sectionalism^ which now 
domineers over the liepublic ; and yet, witli a lu- 
dicrous ignorance of his own j^osition, — unable to 
see liimself as others see him, — or Avith an effront- 
ery which even his white head ought not to pro- 
tect from rebuke, he applies to those here who 
resist his sectionalism the very epithet which de- 
signates himself. The men who strive to bring 
back the government to its original policy, when 
Freedom and not Slavery was national, while 
Slavery and not Freedom w^as sectional, he ar- 
raigns as sectional. This will not do. It involves 
too great a perversion of terms. I tell that senator 
that it is to himself, and to the " organization" of 
wdiich he is the "committed advocate," that this 
epithet belongs. I now fasten it upon them. For 
myself, I care little for names ; but, since the ques- 
tion has been raised here, I affirm that the Eepub- 
lican party of the Union is in no just sense «<?c- 
tional., but, more tlian any other party, national; 
and that it now goes forth to dislodge from the 
high places of the government the tyrannical sec- 
tionalism of which the senator from South Caro- 
lina is one of the maddest zealots. 

To the charge of fanaticism I also reply. Sir, 
fanaticism is found in an enthusiasm or exaggera- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 173 

tion of opinions, particularly on religions subjects; 
but there may be a fanaticism for evil as well as 
for good. Now, I will not deny that there are 
persons among us loving Liberty too well for their 
personal good, in a selfish generation. Such there 
may be, and, for the sake of their example, would 
that there were more ! In calling them " fanatics," 
you cast contumely upon the noble army of mar- 
tyrs, from the earliest day down to this hour; upon 
the great tribunes of human rights, by whom life, 
liberty, and happiness on earth, have been secured ; 
uj)on the long line of devoted patriots, who, through- 
out history, have truly loved their country ; and 
upon all, who, in noble aspirations for the general 
good, and in forgetfulness of self, have stood out 
before their age, and gathered into their generous 
bosoms the shafts of tyranny and wrong, in order 
to make a pathway for truth. You discredit 
Luther, when alone he nailed his articles to the 
door of the church at Wittenberg, and then, to the 
imperial demand that he should retract, firmly re- 
plied, " Here I stand ; I cannot do otherwise, so 
help me God !" You discredit Hampden, when 
alone he refused to pay the few shillings of ship- 
money, and shook the throne of Charles I. ; you 
discredit Milton, when, amidst the corruptions of 
a heartless court, he lived on, the lofty friend of 
Liberty, above question or suspicion ; you discredit 

15« 



174 SPEECH OF 

Kussell and Sidney, when, for the sake of their 
country, they calmly turned from family and 
friends, to tread the naiTOw steps of the scaffold ; 
3^ou discredit those early founders of American in- 
stitutions, who preferred the hardships of a wilder- 
ness, surrounded by a savage foe, to injustice on 
beds of ease ; you discredit our later fathers, who, 
few in numbers, and weak in resources, yet strong 
in their cause, did not hesitate to brave the mighty 
power of England, already encircling the globe 
with her morning drum-beats. Yes, sir, of such 
are the fanatics of history, according to the senator. 
But I tell that senator that there are characters 
badly eminent, of whose fanaticism there can be 
no question. Such were the ancient Egyptians, 
who worshipped divinities in brutish forms ; the 
Druids, who darkened the forests of oak in which 
they lived by sacrifices of blood ; the Mexicans, 
who surrendered countless victims to the propi- 
tiation of their obscene idols; the Spaniards, who, 
under Alva, sought to force the Inquisition upon 
Holland, by a tyranny kindred to that now em- 
ployed to f )rce Slavery upon Kansas ; and such 
were the Algerines, when, in solenm conclave, 
after listening to a speech not unlike that of the 
senator from South Carolina, tliey resolved to con- 
tinue the slavery of wdiite Christians, and to ex- 
tend it to the country inen of Washington ! Ay, 



HON. CHARLES SUMXER. 175 

sir, extend it ! And in this same dreary catalogue 
faithful history must record all who now, in an 
enlightened age, and in a land of boasted free- 
dom, stand up, in perversion of the constitution, 
and in denial of immortal truth, to fasten a new 
shackle upon their fellow-man. If the senator 
wishes to see fanatics, let him look round among 
his own associates ; let him look at himself. 

But I have not done with the senator. There 
is another matter, regarded by him of such conse- 
quence, that he interpolated it into the speech of 
the senator from New Hampshire [Mr. Hale], 
and also announced that he had prepared himself 
with it, to take in his pocket all the way to Bos- 
ton, when he expected to address the people of 
that community. On this account, and for the 
sake of truth, I stop for one moment, and tread it 
to the earth. The North, according to the sena- 
tor, was engaged in the slave-trade, and helped to 
introduce slaves into the Southern States ; and 
this undeniable fact he proposed to establish by 
statistics, in stating which, his errors surpassed his 
sentences in number. But I let these pass for the 
present, that I may deal with his argument. Pray, 
sir, is the acknowledged turpitude of a departed 
generation to become an example for us ? And 
yet the suggestion of the senator, if entitled to any 
consideration in this discussion, must have this 



176 SPEECH OF 

extent. I join mj friend from K^ew Hampshire 
in thanking the senator from South Carolina for 
adducing tliis instance ; for it gives me an oppor- 
tunity to say that the northern merchants, with 
homes in Boston, Bristol, Kewport, New York, 
and Philadelphia, who catered for Slavery dui-ing 
the years of the slave-trade, are the lineal progen- 
itors of the northern men, with homes in these 
places, who lend themselves to Slavery in our 
day ; and especially that all, whether north or 
south, who take part, directly or indirectly, in the 
conspiracy against Kansas, do but continue the 
work of the slave-traders, which you condemn. 
It is true — too true, alas ! — that our fathers were 
engaged in this traffic ; hut tliat is no apology for 
it. And, in repelling the authority of this exam- 
ple, I repel also the trite argument founded on the 
earlier example of England. It is true that our 
mother country, at the peace of Utrecht, extorted 
from Spain the Assiento Contract, securing the 
monopoly of the slave-trade with the Spanish 
Colonies, as the whole price of all the blood of 
great victories ; that she higgled at Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle for another lease of this exclusive traffic ; 
and again, at the treaty of Madrid, clung to the 
wretched piracy. It is true that in this spirit the 
power of the mother country was prostituted to the 
same base ends in her American Colonies, against 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 177 

indignant protests from our fathers. All these 
things now rise up in jndgment against her. Let 
US not follow the senator from South Carolina to 
do the very evil to-daj which in another genera- 
tioii we condemn. 

As the senator from Soutli Carolina is the Don 
Quixote, the senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] 
is the squire of Slavery, its very Sancho Panza, 
ready to do all its humiliating offices. This sena- 
tor, in his labored address, vindicating his labored 
report — piling one mass of elaborate error upon 
another mass — constrained himself, as you will re- 
member, to unfamiliar decencies of speech. Of 
that address I have nothing to say at this moment, 
though before I sit down I shall sliow something 
of its fallacies. But I go back now to an earlier 
occasion, when, true to his native impulses, he 
threw into this discussion, " for a charm of power- 
ful trouble," personalities most discreditable to 
this body. I will not stop to repel the imputa- 
tions which he cast upon myself; but I mention 
them to remind j'ou of the "sweltered venom, 
sleeping got,'- which, with other poisoned ingre- 
dients, he cast into the cauldron of this debate. 
Of other things I speak. Standing on this floor, 
the senator issued his rescript, requiring submis- 
sion to the usurped power of Kansas ; and this 
w^as accompanied by a manner — all his own — 



178 SPEECH OF 

snch as befits the tyrannical threat. Yery well. 
Let the senator try. I tell him now that he can- 
not enforce any such submission. The senator, 
with the slave power at his bach, is strong, but 
he is not strong enough for this purpose. He is 
bold. He shrinks from nothing. Like Danton, 
he may cry, " Vaudace ! Vaudace ! tovjours Vau- 
daee .^" but even his audacity cannot compass this 
work. The senator copies the British officer, who, 
with boastful swagger, said that with the hilt of 
his sword he would cram the " stamps" down the 
throats of the American people ; and he will meet 
a similar failure. Lie may convulse this country 
with civil feud. Like the ancient madman, he 
may set fire to this temple of Constitutional Lib- 
erty, grander than Ephesian dome ; but he can- 
not enforce obedience to that tyrannical usurpa- 
tion. 

The senator dreams that he can subdue the 
l^orth. He disclaims the open threat, but his 
conduct still implies it. How little that senator 
knows himself, or the strength of the cause which 
he persecutes ! He is but a mortal man ; against 
him is an immortal principle. AVith finite power 
he wrestles with the infinite, and he must fall. 
Against him are stronger battalions than any mar- 
shalled by mortal arm — the inborn, ineradicable, 
invincible sentiments of the human heart ; against 



HON. CHAELES SUMNER. 179 

him is nature in all her subtle forces; against 
him is God. Let him try to subdue these. 

But I pass from these things, which, though 
belonging to the very heart of the discussion, are 
yet preliminary in character, and press at once to 
the main question : 

I. It belongs to me now, in the first place, to 
expose the Crime against Kansas, in its origin 
and extent. Logically, this is the beginning of 
the argument. I say Crime, and deliberately 
adopt this strongest term, as better than any 
other denoting the consummate transgression. I 
would go further, if language could go further. 
It is the Crime of Crimes — surpassing far the old 
crimen majestatis^ pursued with vengeance by 
tlie laws of Eome, and containing all other crimes, 
as the greater contains the less. I do not go too 
far, when I call it the Crime against Nature^ 
from which the soul recoils, and which language 
refuses to describe. To lay bare this enormity, I 
now proceed. The whole subject has already be- 
come a twice-told tale, and its renewed recital will 
be a renewal of its sorrow and shame ; but I shall 
not hesitate to enter upon it. The occasion re- 
quires it from the beginning. 

It has been well remarked by a distinguished 
historian of our country, that at the Ithuriel touch 
of the Missouri discussion, the slave interest, 



180 SPEECH OF 

liitherto hardly recognized as a distinct element in 
oiir system, started up portentous and dilated, ^yitll 
threats and assumptions, which are the origin of 
our existing national politics. This was in 1820. 
The discussion ended with the admission of Mis- 
souri as a slaveholding State, and the prohibition 
of Slavery in all the remaining territory west of 
the Mississippi, and north of 36° 30', leaving the 
condition of other territory, south of this line, or 
subsequently acquired, untouched by the arrange- 
ment. Here was a solemn act of legislation, called 
at the time a compromise, a covenant, a compact, 
first brought forward in this bod^^ by a slavehold- 
er, vindicated by slaveholders in debate, finally 
sanctioned by slaveholding votes, also upheld at 
the time by the essential approbation of a slave- 
holding President, James Monroe, and his Cabi- 
net, of whom a majority were slaveholders, inclu- 
ding Mr. Calhoun himself ; and this compromise 
was made the condition of the admission of Mis- 
souri, without which that State could not have been 
received into the Union. The bargain was simple, 
and was applicable, of course, only to the territory 
named. Leaving all other territory to await the 
judgment of another generation, the South said to 
the North, Conquer your prejudices so far as to 
admit Missouri as a slave State, and, in considera- 
tion of this much-coveted boon, Slavery shall be 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 181 

j)roliibited forever in all the remaining Louisiana 
Territory above 36° 30' ; and the North yielded. 

In total disregard of history, the President, in his 
annual message, has told us that this compromise 
"was reluctantl/y acquiesced in by the Southern 
States." Just the contrary is true. It was the work 
of slaveholders, and was crowded by their concur- 
ring votes upon a reluctant North. At the time, it 
was hailed by slaveholders as a victory. Charles 
Pinckney, of South Carolina, in an oft-quoted let- 
ter, written at three o'clock on the night of its 
passage, says, " It is considered here by the slave- 
holding States as a great triumph." At the North 
it was accepted as a defeat, and the friends of 
Freedom everywhere throughout the country bow- 
ed their heads with mortification. But little did 
they know the completeness of their disaster. 
Little did they dream that the prohibition of Sla- 
very in the Territory, which was stijjulated as the 
price of their fatal capitulation, would also at the 
very moment of its maturity be wrested from them. 

Time passed, and it became necessary to provide 
for this Territory an organized government. Sud- 
denly, without notice in the public press, or the 
prayer of a single petition, or one word of open 
reconmiendation from the President, — after an 
acquiescence of thirty-three years, and the irre- 
claimable possession by the South of its special 

16 



182 SPEECH OF 

share under this compromise, — in violation of 
every obligation of honor, compact, and good 
neighborhood, — and in contemptuous disregard of 
the out-gushing sentiments of an aroused North, 
this time-honored proliibition, in itself a Land- 
mark of Freedom, was overturned, and the vast 
reo-ion now known as Kansas and Nebraska was 
opened to Slavery. It was natural that a measure 
thus repugnant in character should be pressed by 
arguments mutually repugnant. It was urged on 
two principal reasons, so opposite and inconsistent 
as to slap each other in the face : one being tliat, 
by the repeal of the prohibition, the Territory 
would be left open to the entry of slaveholders 
with their slaves, without hindrance ; and the 
other being, that the people w^ould be left abso- 
lutely free to determine the question for them- 
selves, and to prohibit the entry of slaveholders 
with their slaves, if they should think best. With 
some, the apology was the alleged rights of slave- 
holders ; with others, it was the alleged rights of 
the people. With some, it was openly the exten- 
sion of Slavery ; and with othere, it was openly 
the establishment of Freedom, under the guise of 
Popular Sovereignty. Of course, the measure, 
thus upheld in deliance of reason, was carried 
throuo-h Congress in defiance of all the securities 
of legislation ; and I mention these things that 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 183 

you may see in what foulness the present Crime 
was engendered. 

It was carried, firsts by whipping in to its sup- 
port, through Executive influence and patronage, 
men who acted against their own declared judg- 
ment, and the known will of their constituents. 
Secondly^ by foisting out of place^ both in the 
Senate and House of Representatives, important 
business, long pending, and usurping its room. 
Thirdly^ by trampling underfoot the rules of the 
House of Representatives, always before the safe- 
guard of the minority. Kw(\. fourthly ^ by driving 
it to a close during the very session in which it 
originated, so that it might not be arrested by the 
indignant voice of the people. Such are some of 
the means by which this snap judgment was ob- 
tained. If the clear will of the people had not 
been disregarded, it could not have passed. If 
the Government had not nefariously interposed its 
influence, it could not have passed. If it had been 
left to its natural place in the order of business, it 
could not have passed. If the rules of the House 
and the rights of the minority had not been vio- 
lated, it could not have passed. If it had been 
allowed to go over to another Congress, when tlie 
people might be heard, it would have been ended ; 
and then the Crime we now deplore would have 
been without its first seminal life. 



184 SPEECH OF 

Mr. President, I mean to keep absolutely ' 'hm 
the limits of parliamentary propriety. I ma'-e no 
personal imputations; but only with frankness, 
such as belongs to tbe occasion and my own char- 
acter, describe a great historical act, wliich is now 
enrolled in the Capitol. Sir, the Nebraska Bill 
was in every respect a swindle. It was a swindle 
by the South of the North. It was, on the part of 
those who had already completely enjoyed their 
share of the Missouri Compromise, a swindle of 
those whose share was yet absolutely untouched ; 
and the plea of unconstitutionality set up — like the 
plea of usury after the borrowed money has been 
enjoyed — did not make it less a swindle. Urged 
as a Bill of Peace, it was a swindle of the whole 
country. Urged as opening the doors to slave- 
masters with their slaves, it was a swindle of the 
asserted doctrine of Popular Sovereignty. Urged 
as sanctioning Popular Sovereignty, it was a swindle 
of the asserted rights of slave-masters. It was a 
swindle of a broad territory, thus cheated on protec- 
tion against Slavery. It was a swindle of a great 
cause, early espoused by Washington, Franklin, 
and Jefferson, surrounded by the best fathers of 
the Eepublic. Sir, it was a swindle of God-given 
inalienable rights. Turn it over, look at it on all 
sides, and it is everywhere a swindle ; and, if the 
word I now employ has not the authority of classi- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 185 

cal usage, it has, on this occasion, the indubitable 
authority of fitness. ]S^o other word will adequate- 
ly express the mingled meanness and wickedness 
of the cheat. 

Its cliaracter was still further apparent in the 
general structure of the bill. Amidst overflowing 
professions of regard for the sovereignty of the 
people in the Territory, they were despoiled of ev- 
ery essential privilege of sovereignty. They were 
not allowed to choose their Governor, Secretary, 
Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Attorney, or 
Marshall — all of whom are sent from Washington ; 
nor were they allowed to regulate the salaries of 
any of these functionaries, or the daily allowance 
of the legislative body, or even the pay of the 
clerks and door-keepers; but they were left free to 
adopt Slavery. And this was called Popular 
Sovereignty ! Time does not allow, nor does the 
occasion require, that I should stop to dwell on 
this transparent device to cover a transcendent 
wrong. Sufiice it to say, that Slavery is in itself 
an arrogant denial of Human Rights, and by no 
human reason can the power to establish such a 
wrong be placed among the attributes of any just 
sovereignty. In refusing it such a place, I do not 
deny popular rights, but uphold them ; I do not 
restrain popular rights, but extend them. And, 
sir, to this conclusion you must yet come, unless 



186 SPEECH OF 

deaf, not only to the admonitions of political jus- 
tice, but also to the genius of our own constitution, 
under which, when properly interpreted, no valid 
claim for Slavery can be set up anywhere in the 
national territory. The senator from Michigan 
[Mr. Cass] may say, in response to the senator from 
Mississippi [Mr. Brown], that Slaveiy cannot go 
into the Territory under the constitution, without 
legislative introduction ; and permit me to add, in 
response to both, that Slavery cannot go there at 
all. Notliing can come out of nothing ; and there 
is absolutely nothing in the constitution out of 
which Slavery can be derived, while there are 
provisions, which, when properly interpreted, make 
its existence anywhere within the exclusive na- 
tional jurisdiction impossible. 

The offensive provision in the bill was in its 
form a legislative anomaly, utterly wanting the nat- 
ural directness and simplicity of an honest trans- 
action. It did not undertake openly to repeal the 
old Prohibition of Slavery, but seemed to mince 
the matter, as if conscious of the swindle. It is 
said that this Prohibition, " being inconsistent 
with the principle of non-intervention by Congress 
with Slavery in the States and Territories as re- 
cognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly 
called the Compromise Measures, is hereby de- 
clared inoperative and void." Thus, with insidious 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 187 

ostentation, was it pretended that an act, violating 
the greatest compromise of our legislative history, 
and setting loose the foundations of all compro- 
mise, was derived out of a compromise. Then fol- 
lowed in the Bill the further declaration, which is 
entirely without precedent, and which has been 
aptly called " a stump speech in its belly," namely, 
" it being the true intent and meaning of this act, 
not to legislate Slavery into any Territory or State, 
nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people 
thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
domestic institutions in their own way, subject 
only to the constitution of the United States." 
Here were smooth words, such as belong to a cun- 
ning tongue, enlisted in a bad cause. But, what- 
ever may have been their various hidden mean- 
ings, this at least was evident, that, by their etfect, 
the Congressional Prohibition of Slavery, which 
had always been regarded as a seven-fold shield, 
covering the whole Louisiana Territory north of 
36° 30', was now removed, while a principle was 
declared, which M-ould render the supplementary 
Prohibition of Slavery in Minnesota, Oregon, and 
Washington, " inoperative and void," and thus 
open to Slavery all these vast regions, now the 
rude cradles of mighty States. Plere you see the 
magnitude of the mischief contemplated. But my 
purpose now is with the Crime against Kansas, 



188 SPEECH OF 

and I sliall not stop to expose the conspiracy be- 
yond. 

Mr. President, men are wkelj presumed to in- 
tend tlie natural consequences of their conduct, 
and to seek what their acts seem to promote. Now, 
the jSTehraska Bill, on its very face, openly cleared 
the way for Slavery, and it is not wrong to pre- 
sume that its originators intended the natural con- 
sequences of such an act, and sought in this way 
to extend Slavery. Of course, they did. And 
this is the first stage in the Crime against Kansas. 

But this was speedily fullowed by other develop- 
ments. The bare-faced scheme was soon whisper- 
ed, that Kansas must be a slave State. In con- 
formity with this idea was the Government of this 
imhappy Territory organized in all its departments; 
and thus did the President, by whose complicity 
the Prohibition of Slavery had been overthrown, 
lend himself to a new complicity — giving to the 
conspirators a lease of connivance, amounting even 
to copartnership. Tlie Governor, Secretary, Chief 
Justice, Associate Justices, Attorney, and Mar- 
shal, with a whole caucus of other stipendiaries, 
nominated by the President, and confirmed by the 
Senate, were all commended as friendly to Shive- 
ry. No man, with the sentiments of Washington, 
or Jefferson, or Franklin, found any favor ; nor is 
it too much to say, that, had these great patriots 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. ISO 

once more come among ns, not one of them, with 
his recorded nnretracted opinions on Slavery, could 
have been nominated by the President or confirm- 
ed by the Senate for any post in that Territor}'. 
With such auspices the conspiracy proceeded. 
Even in advance of the Nebraska Bill, secret so- 
cieties were organized in Missouri, ostensibly to 
protect her institutions ; and afterwards, under the 
name of " Self-Defensive Associations," and of 
" Blue Lodges," these were multiplied throughout 
the western counties of that State, hefore any 
counter-movement from, the North. It was con- 
fidently anticipated, that, by the activity of these 
societies, and the interest of slaveholders every- 
where, with the advantage derived from the neigh- 
borhood of Missouri, and the influence of the Ter- 
ritorial Government, Slavery might be introduced 
into Kansas, quietly but surely, without arousing a 
conflict ; that the crocodile q.^^, might be stealthily 
dropped in the sunburnt soil, tliei'e to be hatched 
unobserved until it sent forth its reptile monster. 

But the conspiracy M'as unexpectedly balked. 
The debate, which convulsed Congress, had stirred 
the whole country. Attention from all sides was 
directed ujjon Kansas, which at once became the 
favorite goal of emigration. The Bill had loudly 
declai-ed that its ol)Ject was "to leave the people 
perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic 



190 SPEECH OF 

institutions in their own way ;" and its supporters 
everj'where challenged the determination of the 
question between Freedom and Slavery by a com- 
petition of emigration. Thus, while opening the 
Territory to Slavery, the Bill also opened it to em- 
igrants from every quarter, who might by their 
votes redress the wrong. The populous North, 
stung by a sharp sense of outrage, and inspired by 
a noble cause, poured into the debatable land, and 
promised soon to establisli a supremacy of num- 
bers there, involving, of course, a just supremacy 
of Freedom. 

Then was conceived the consummation of the 
Crime against Kansas. What could not be accom- 
plished peaceably, was to be accomplished forci- 
bly. The reptile monster, that could not be quietly 
and securely hatched there, was to be pushed full- 
grown into the Territory, All efforts were now 
given to the dismal work of forcing Slaver}^ on 
Free Soil. In flagrant derogation of the very Pop- 
ular Sovereignty whose name helped to impose 
this Bill upon the country, the atrocious object 
■was now distinctly avowed. And the avowal has 
been followed by the act. Slavery has been forci- 
bly introduced into Kansas, and placed under the 
formal safeguards of pretended law. How this 
was done, belongs to the argument. 

In depicting this consummation, the simplest 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 191 

outline, without one word of color, will be best, 
"Whether regarded in its mass or its details, in its 
origin or its result, it is all blackness, illumined by 
nothing from itself, but only by the heroism of the 
undaunted men and women whom it environed. 
A plain statement of facts will be a picture of 
fearful truth, which faithful history will preserve 
in its darkest gallery. In the foreground all will 
recognize a familiar character, in himseU' a con- 
necting link between the President and the border 
ruffian, — less conspicuous for ability than for the 
exalted place he has occupied, — who once sat in 
the seat where you now sit, sir ; where once sat 
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson ; also, where 
once sat Aaron Burr. I need not add the name of 
David E.. Atchison. Tou have not forgotten that, 
at the session of Congress immediately succeeding 
the Nebraska Bill, he came tardily to his duty 
here, and then, after a short time, disappeared. 
The secret has been long since disclosed. Like 
Catiline, he stalked into this Chamber, reeking 
with conspiracy — immo in Senatimi venit — and 
then like Catiline he skulked away — dbiit^ excessit, 
evasit, crupit — to join and provoke the conspira- 
tors, who at a distance awaited their congenial 
chief. Under the influence of his malign pres- 
ence the Crime ripened to its fatal fruits, while the 
similitude with Catiline was again renewed in the 



192 SPEECH OF 

sympathj, not even concealed, which he found in 
the very Senate itself, where, beyond even the 
Roman example, a senator has not hesitated to 
a23pear as his open compurgator. 

And now, as I proceed to show the way in 
which this Territory was overrun and finally sub- 
jugated to Slavery, I desire to remove in advance 
all question with regard to the authority on which 
I rely. The evidence is secondary ; but it is the 
best which, in the nature of the case, can be had, 
and it is not less clear, direct, and j^eremptory, 
than any by which we are assured of the cam- 
paigns in the Crimea or the fall of Sevastopol. In 
its manifold mass, I confidently assert that it is 
such a body of evidence as the human mind is not 
able to resist. It is found in the concurring re- 
ports of the public press; in the letters of corre- 
spondents; in the testimony of travellers; and in 
the unafi'ected story to which I have listened from 
leading citizens, who, during this winter, have 
" come flocking" here from that distant Territoi-y. 
It breaks forth in the irrepressible outcry, reach- 
ing us from Kansas, in truthful tones, which leave 
no ground of mistake. It addresses us in formal 
complaints, instinct with the indignation of a 
people determined to be free, and unimpeachable 
as the declarations of a nun-dered man on his dy- 
ing bed against his murderer. And let me add, 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 193 

that all this testimony finds an echo in the very 
statute-book of the conspirators, and also in lan- 
guage dropped from the President of the United 
States. 

I begin with an admission from the President 
himself, in whose sight the people of Kansas have 
little favor. And yet, after arraigning the inno- 
cent emigrants from the North, he was constrained 
to declare that their conduct was " far from jus- 
tifying the illegal and rejprelunsible counter- 
movement which ensued." Then, by the reluctant 
admission of the Chief Magistrate, there was a 
counter-movement, at once illegal and repre- 
hensihle. I thank thee, President, for teaching 
me these words; and I now put them in the front 
of this exposition, as in themselves a confessio::. 
Sir, this " illegal and reprehensible coauter- 
movement" is none other than the dreadful Crime 
— under an apologetical alias — by which, through 
successive invasions, Slavery has been forcibly 
planted in this Territory. 

Next to this Presidential admission must be 
placed the details of the invasions, which I now 
present as not only " illegal and reprehensible," 
but also unquestionable evidence of the resulting 
Crime. 

Tlie violence, for some time threatened, broke 
forth on the 29th November, 1854, at the first 
17 



194 SPEECH OF 

election of a Delegate to Congress, when com- 
panies from Missouri, amounting to upwards of 
one thousand, crossed into Kansas, and, with force 
and arms, proceeded to vote fur Mr. Whitfield, the 
candidate of Slavery. An eye-witness. General 
Pomeroy, of superior intelligence and perfect in- 
tegrity, thus describes tliis scene : 

"The first ballot-box that was opened upon our virgin 
soil was closed to us by overpowering numbers and impend- 
ing force. So bold and reckless were our invaders, that 
they cared not to conceal their attack. They came upon us, 
not in the guise of voters, to steal away our franchise, but 
boldly and openly, to snatch it with a strong hand. They 
came directly from their own homes, and in compact and 
organized bands, with arms in hand, and provisions for the 
expedition, marched to our polls, and, when their work was 
done, returned whence they came." 

Here was an outi'age at which the coolest blood 
of patriotism boils. Though, for various reasons 
•unnecessary to develop, the busy settlers allowed 
the election to pass uncontested, still the means 
employed were none the less " illegal and repre- 
hensible." 

This infliction was a significant prelude to the 
grand invasion of the 30th March, 1855, at the 
election of the first Territorial Legislature under 
the organic law, when an armed multitude from 
Missouri entered the Territory, in larger numbers 
than General Taylor commanded at Buena Yista, 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 195 

or than General Jackson had within his h'nes at 
New Orleans — larger far than our fathers rallied 
on Bunker Hill. On they came as an " army with 
banners," organized in companies, with officers, mu- 
nitions, tents, and provisions, as though marching 
upon a foreign foe, and breathing loud-mouthed 
threats that they would carry their purpose, if 
need be, by the bowie-knife and revolver. Among 
them, according to his own confession, was David 
R. Atchison, belted with the vulgar arms of his 
vulgar comrades. Arrived at their several desti- 
nations on the night before the election, the in- 
vaders pitched their tents, placed their sentries, 
and waited for the coming day. The same trust- 
worthy eye-witness whom I have already quoted 
says, of one locality : 

"Baggage-wagons were there, with arms and ammuni- 
tion enough for a protracted fight, and among them two 
hrass field-pieces, ready charged. They came with drums 
beating and flags flying, and their leaders were of the most 
prominent and conspicuous men of their State." 

Of another locality he says : 

"The invaders came together in one armed and organized 
body, with trains of fifty wagons, besides horsemen, and, 
the night before election, pitched their camp in the vicinity 
of the polls; and, having appointed their own Judges in 
place of those who, from intimidation or otherwise, failed 
to attend, they voted without any proof of resideuce." 



196 SPEECH OF 

With force they were able, on the succeeding 
clay, in some places, to intimidate the judges of 
elections ; in others, to substitute judges of their 
own appointment ; in others, to wrest the ballot- 
boxes from their rightful possessors, and every- 
where to exercise a complete control of the elec- 
tion, and thus, by a preternatural audacity of 
usurpation, impose a Legislature upon the free 
people of Kansas. Thus was conquered the Se- 
vastopol of that Territory ! 

But it was not enough to secure the Legislature. 
The election of a Member of Congress recurred on 
the 2d October, 1855, and the same foreigners, 
who had learned their strength, again manifested 
it. Another invasion, in controlling numbers, 
came from Missouri, and once more forcibly exer- 
cised the electoral franchise in Kansas. 

At last, in the latter days of November, 1855, a 
storm, long brewing, burst upon the heads of the 
devoted people. The ballot-boxes had been vio- 
lated, and a Legislature installed, which had pro- 
ceeded to carry out the conspiracy of the invaders; 
but the good people of the Territory, born to Free- 
dom, and educated as American citizens, showed 
no signs of submission. Slavery, though recog- 
nized by pretended law, was in many places j^racti- 
cally an outlaw. To the lawless borderers, this 
was hard to bear ; and, like the Heathen of old, 



HON. CHARLES SUMXER. 197 

they raged, particularly against the to'uii of Law- 
rence, ah-eadv known, by the firmness of its prin- 
ciples and the character of its citizens, as the 
citadel of the good cause. On this account they 
threatened, in their peculiar language, to '• wipe it 
out." Soon the hostile power was gathered for 
this purpose. The wickedness of this invasion was 
enhanced by the way in which it began. A citi- 
zen of Kansas, by the name of Dow, was murdered 
by one of the partisans of Slavery, under the name 
of " law and order." Such an outrage naturally 
aroused indignation, and provoked threats. The 
professors of " law and order" allowed the mur- 
derer to escape ; and, still -further to illustrate the 
irony of the name they assumed, seized the friend 
of the murdered man, whose few neighbors soon 
rallied for his rescue. This transaction, though 
totally disregarded in its chief front of wickedness, 
became the excuse for unprecedented excitement. 
The weak Governor with no faculty higher than 
servility to Slayery, — whom the President, in his 
official delinquency, had ap]X)inted to a trust 
worthy only of a well-balanced character. — was 
frightened from his propriety. By proclamation 
he invoked the Territory. By telegraph he in- 
yoked the President. The Territory would not 
respond to his senseless appeal. The President 
was dumb ; but the proclamation was circulated 
17 



198 SPEECH OF 

tlirongliont the border counties of Missouri ; and 
Platte, Clay, Carlisle, Sabine, Howard, and Jeffer- 
son, each of tliem contributed a volunteer com- 
pany, recruited from the roadsides, and armed with 
weapons which chance attbrded, — known as the 
" shot-gun militia," — with a Missouri officer as 
commissary-general, dispensing rations, and an- 
other Missouri officer as general-in-chief ; with 
two w^agon-loads of rifles, belonging to Missouri, 
drawn by six mules, from its arsenal at Jefferson 
City; with seven pieces of cannon, belonging to 
the United States, from its arsenal at Liberty ; and 
this formidable force, amounting to at least eigh- 
teen hundred men, terrible with threats, with 
oaths, and with whiskey, crossed the borders, and 
encamped in lai'ger part at Wacherusa, over 
against the doomed town of Lawrence, which was 
now threatened with destruction. With these in- 
vaders was the Governor, who by this act levied 
war upon the people he was sent to protect. In 
camp with him was the original Catiline of the 
conspiracy, while by his side was the docile Chief 
Justice and the docile Judges. But this is not the 
first instance in which an unjust Governor has 
f Miiid tools where he ought to have found justice. 
In the great impeachment of Warren Hastings, 
the British orator by whom it was conducted ex- 
claims, in words strictly a})j)licable to the misdeed 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 199 

I now arraign, '* Had he not the Chief Justice, 
the tamed and domesticated Chief Justice, who 
waited on him like a familiar spirit?" Thus was 
this invasion countenanced by those who should 
have stood in the breach against it. For more 
than a week it continued, while deadly conflict 
seemed imminent. I do not dwell on the heroism 
by M'hich it was encountered, or the mean retreat 
to which it was compelled ; for that is not neces- 
sary to exhibit the Crime which you are to judge. 
But I cannot forbear to add other additional fea- 
tures, furnished in the letter of a clergyman, writ- 
ten at the time, who saw and was a part of what 
he describes : 

" Our citizens have been shot at, and^ in two instances^ 
murdered^ our houses invaded, hay-ricks burnt, corn and 
other provisions phindered, cattle driven off, all communi- 
cation cut off between us and the States, wagons on the 
way to us with provisions stopped and plundered, and the 
drivers taken prisoners, and we in hourly expectation of an 
attack. Nearly every man has heen in arms in the village. 
Fortifications have been thrown up, by incessant labor, night 
and day. The sound of the drum, and the tramp of armed 
men, resounded through our streets ; families fleeing^ icith 
their household goods, for safety. Day before yesterday, the 
report of cannon was heard at our house from the direction 
of Lecompton. Last Tliursday, one of our neighbors, — one 
of the most peaceable and excellent of men, from Ohio, — on 
his way home, was set upon by a gang of twelve men on 
horseback, and shot down. Over eight hundred men are 
gathered, under arms, at Lawrence. As yet, no act of vio- 



200 SPEECH OF 

lence has been perpetrated by those on our side. N'o Mood 
of retaliation stains our hands. We stand and are ready 
to act purely in the defence of our homes and lives.'''' 

But the catalogue is not yet complete. On the 
15tli of December, -when the people assembled to 
vote on the constitution then submitted for adop- 
tion, — only a few days after the Treaty of Peace 
between the Governor on tlie one side and the 
town of Lawrence on the other,-^another and fifth 
irruption was made. But I leave all this untold. 
Enough of these details has been given. 

Five several times, and more, have these in- 
vaders entered Kansas in armed array; and thus 
five several times, and more, have they trampled 
upon the organic law of the Territory. But these 
extraordinary expeditions are simply the extra- 
ordinary witnesses to successive uninterrupted vio- 
lence. They stand out conspicuous, but not alone. 
The spirit of evil, in wliicli they had their origin, 
was wakeful and incessant. From the beginning, 
it hung upon the skirts of this interesting Territory, 
harrowing its jjeace, disturbing its prosperity', and 
keeping its inhabitants under the painful alarms 
of war. Thus was all security of jjerson, of pro- 
j)erty, and of labor, overthrown ; and when I urge 
this incontrovertible fact, I set forth a wrong which 
is small only by the side of the giant wrong, for 
the consummation of which all this was done. Sir, 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER, 201 

what is man, what is government, without securi- 
ty ; in the absence of which, nor man nor govern- 
ment can proceed in development, or enjoy the 
fruits of existence ? "Without security, civilization 
is cramped and dwarfed. "Without security, there 
can be no true Fi'eedom. Nor shall I say too 
much, when I declare that security, guarded, of 
course, by its offspring Freedom, is the true end 
and aim of government. Of this indispensable 
boon the people of Kansas have thus far been de- 
spoiled — absolutely, totally. All this is aggravated 
by the nature of their jMirsuits, rendering them 
peculiarly sensitive to interruption, and, at the 
same time, attesting their innocence. They are 
for the most part engaged in the cultivation of the 
soil, which from time immemorial has been the 
sweet employment of undisturbed industry. Con- 
tented in the returns of bounteous nature and the 
shade of his own trees, the husbandman is not ag- 
gressive ; accustomed to produce, and not to de- 
stroy, he is essentially peaceful, unless his home is 
invaded, when his arm derives vigor from the soil 
he treads, and his soul inspiration tVom the heav- 
ens beneath whose canopy he daily toils. And 
such are the people of Kansas, whose security has 
been overthrown. Scenes from which civilization 
averts her countenance have been a part of their 
daily life. The border incursions, which, in bar- 



202 SPEECH OP 

barons ages or barbarous lands, have fretted and 
"harried" an exposed people, have been here re- 
newed, with this pecLiliaritj, that onr border rob- 
bers do not simply levy black-mail and drive off 
a few cattle, like those who acted under the inspi- 
ration of the Douglas of other days ; that the}' do 
not seize a few persons, and sweejj them away into 
captivity, like the African slave-traders whom we 
brand as pirates ; but that they commit a succes- 
sion of acts, in Mdiich all border sorrows and all 
African wrongs are revived together on American 
soil, and which for the time being annuls all pro- 
tection of all kinds, and enslaves the whole Terri- 
tory. 

Private griefs mingle their poignancy with pub- 
lic wrongs. I do not dwell on tlie anxieties which 
families have undergone, exposed to sudden as- 
sault, and obliged to lie down to rest with the 
alarms of war ringing in their ears, not know- 
ing that another day might be spared to them. 
Throughout this bitter winter, with the thermome- 
ter at thirty degrees below zero, the citizens of 
Lawrence have been constrained to sleep under 
arms, with sentinels treading their constant watch 
against surprise. But our souls are wrung by in- 
dividual instances. In vain do we condenm the 
cruelties of another age — the refinements of tor- 
ture to which men have been doomed, tlie rack 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 203 

and thumb-scre"v\" of the Inquisition, the last ago- 
nies of the regicide Ravaillac, " Luke's iron crown, 
and Damien's bed of steel," — for kindred outrages 
have disgraced these borders. Murder has stalked, 
assassination has skulked in the tall grass of the 
prairie, and the vindictiveness of man has assumed 
unwonted forms. A preacher of the Gospel of the 
Saviour has been ridden on a rail, and then throAvn 
into the Missouri, fastened to a log, and left to 
drift down its muddj, tortuous current. And 
lately we have had the tidings of that enormity 
without precedent — a deed without a name — 
where a candidate for the Legislature was most 
brutally gashed with knives and hatchets, and 
then, after weltering in blood on the snow-clad 
earth, was trundled along with gaping wounds, to 
fall dead in the face of his wife. It is common to 
drop a tear of sympathy over the trembling solici- 
tudes of our early fathers, exposed to the stealthy 
assault of the savage foe ; and an eminent Ameri- 
can artist has pictm'ed this scene in a marble 
group of rare beauty, on the front of the l!^ational 
Capit"l, where the uplifted tomahawk is arrested 
by the strong arm and generous countenance of 
the pioneer, while his wife and children find shel- 
ter at his feet ; but now the tear must be drojDped 
over the trembling solicitudes of fellow-citizens, 
seeking to build a new State in Kansas, and ex- 



204 SPEECH OF 

posed to the perpetual assault of murderous rob- 
bers from Missom-i. Hirelings, picked from the 
drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy civilization 
— in the form of men ; 

" Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men ; 
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, 
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are culled 
All by the name of dogs :" 

leashed together by secret signs and lodges, have 
renewed the incredible atrocities of the Assassins 
and of the Thugs ; showing the blind submission 
of the Assassins to the Old Man of the Mountain, 
in robbing Christians on the road to Jerusalem, 
and showing the heartlessness of the Thugs, who, 
avowing that murder was their religion, waylaid 
travelleis on the great road from Agra to Delhi ; 
with the more deadly bowie-knife for the dagger 
of the Assassin, and the more deadly revolver for 
the noose of the Thug. 

In these invasions, attended by the entire sub- 
version of all security in this Territory, with the 
plunder of the ballot-box, and the jDollution of the 
electoral franchise, I show simjDly the process in 
unprecedented Crime. If that be the best govern- 
ment where an injury to a single citizen is resented 
as an injury to the whole State, then must our 
Government forfeit all claim to any such emi- 
nence, while it leaves its citizens thus exposed. 



HON, CHARLES SUMNER. 205 

In the outrage upon the ballot-box, even without 
the illicit fruits Mliicli I shall soon exhibit, there 
is a peculiar crime of the deepest dye, though 
subordinate to the final Crime, which should be 
promptly avenged. In countries where royalty is 
upheld, it is a special offence to rob the crown 
jewels, which are the emblems of that sovereignty 
before which the loyal subject bows, and it is trea- 
son to be found in adultery with the Queen, for in 
this way may a false heir be im230sed upon the 
State ; but in our Eepublic the ballot-box is the 
single priceless jewel of that sovereignty which 
we respect, and the electoral franchise, out of 
which are born the rulers of a free people, is the 
Queen that we are to guard against pollution. In 
this plain presentment, whether as regards securi- 
ty, or as regards elections, there is enough, surely, 
without proceeding further, to justify the interven- 
tion of Congress, most promptly and completely, 
to throw over this oppressed people the impenetra- 
ble shield of the constitution and laws. But the 
half is not yet told. 

As every point in a wide-spread horizon radi- 
ates from a common centre, so every thing said or 
done in this vast circle of Crime radiates from the 
One Idea^ that Kansas, at all hazards, must be 
made a slave State. In all the manifold wicked- 
nesses that have occurred, and in every successive 

18 



206 SPEECH OF 

invasion, this One Idea has been ever present, as 
the Satanic tempter — the motive power — the caus- 
ing cause. 

To accomplish this result, three things were at- 
temjDted : first., by outrages of all kinds to drive 
the friends of Freedom already there out of the 
Tei-ritory ; secondly., to deter others from coming ; 
and, thirdly., to obtain the complete control of the 
Government. The jirocess of driving out, and also 
of deterring, has failed. On the contrary, the 
friends of Freedom there became more fixed in 
their resolves to stay and fight the battle, which 
they had never sought, but from which they dis- 
dained to retreat ; w^hile the friends of Freedom 
elsewhere were more aroused to the duty of time- 
ly succors, by men and munitions of just self- 
defence. 

But, while defeated in the first two processes 
proposed, the conspirators succeeded in the last. 
By the violence already portrayed at the election 
of the 30th March, when the polls were occupied 
by the armed hordes from Missouri, they imposed 
a Legislature upon the Territory, and thus, under 
the iron mask of law, established a usurpation not 
less complete than any in history. That this was 
done, I proceed to prove. Here is the evidence : 

1. Only in this way can this extraordinary ex- 
pedition be adequately explained. In the words 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 207 

of Moliere, once -employed by John Quincy 
Adams, in the other House, Que diahle aUaient- 
ils faire dans cette galere ? What did they go 
into the Teiritury fur ? If their purposes were 
peaceful, as has been suggested, why cannons, 
arms, flags, numbers, and all this violence ? As 
simple citizens, proceeding to the honest exercise 
of the electoral franchise, they might have gone 
with nothing more than a pilgrim's staif. Phi- 
losophy always seeks a sufficient cause^ and only 
in the One Idea^ already presented, can a cause 
be found in any degree commensurate with this 
Crime ; and this becomes so only when we con- 
sider the mad fanaticism of Slavery. 

2. Public notoriety steps forward to confirm the 
suggestion of reason. In every place where truth 
can freely travel, it has been asserted and under- 
stood that the Legislature was imposed upon Kan- 
sas b}^ foreigners from Missouri ; and this universal 
voice is now received as undeniable verity. 

3. It is also attested by the harangues of the 
conspirators. Here is what Stringfellow said he- 
fore the invasion : 

" To those who have qualms of conscience as to violating 
laws, State or National, tlie time has come when such impo- 
sitions must be disregarded, as your rights and pi'operty are 
in danger; and I advise you^ one and all^ to enter every elec- 
tion district in Kansas^ in defiance of Reeder and his vile 
myrmidom^ and vote at the point of the howie-hnife and 



208 SPEECH OF 

revolver. Neither give nor take quarter, as our case de- 
mands it. It is enougli tliat the slavehokling interest wills 
it, from which there is no appeal. What right has Gov- 
ernor Reeder to rule Missourians in Kansas? His procla- 
mation and prescribed oath must be repudiated. It is your 
interest to do so. Mind that Slavery is established where it 
is not prohibited." 

Here is what Atchison said after the invasion : 

" Well, what next ? Why, an election for members of the 
Legislature to organize the Territory must be held. What 
did I advise you to do then ? Why, meet them on their 
own ground, and beat them at their own game, again ; and, 
cold and inclement as the weather was, I went over with a 
company of men. My object in going was not to vote. I 
had no right to vote, unless I had disfrancliised myself in 
Missouri. I was not within two miles of a voting place. 
My oliject in going was not to vote, but to settle a diificulty 
between two of our candidates; and the Abolitionists of 
the North said, and puhlished it abroad., that AtcTiison was 
there with howle-hnife and revolver; and^ hy God! Hicas 
true. I never did go into that Territory — I never intend to 
go into that Territory — without being prepared for all such 
Mnd of cattle. Well, we beat them, and Governor Reeder 
gave certificates to a majority of all the members of both 
Houses ; and then, after they were organized, as everybody 
will admit, they were the only competent persons to say 
who were, and who were not, members of the same." 

4. It is confirmed by the contemporaneous ad- 
mission of the Squatter Sovereign.^ a paper pub- 
lished at Atchison, and at once the organ of the 
President and of these borderers, which, under 
date of 1st of April, thus recounts the victory : 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 209 

'■'•Independence {Missouri]^ March 31, 1855. 
"Several hundred emigrants from Kansas have just en- 
tered our city. They were preceded by the Westport and 
Independence Brass Bands. They came in at the west side 
of the pubHc square, and proceeded entirely around it, the 
hands cheering us with fine music, and the emigrants with 
good news. Immediately following the bands were about 
two hundred horsemen in regular order; following these 
-were one hundred and fifty wagons, carriages, &c. They 
gave repeated cheers for Kansas and Missouri. They report 
that not an Anti-Slavery man will be in the Legislature of 
Kansas. We have made a clean sweep.'''' 

5. It is also confirmed by the contemporaneous 
testimony of another paper, always faithful to sla- 
very, the New York Herald., in the letter of a cor- 
respondent from Brunswick, in Missom-i, under 
date of 20th April, 1855 : 

" From five to seven thousand men started from Missouri 
to attend the election, some to remove, but the most to re- 
turn to their families, with an intention, if they liked the 
Territory, to make it their permanent abode at the earliest 
moment practicable. But they intended to vote. The Mis- 
sourians were, many of them, Douglas men. There were 
one liundred and fifty voters from this county, one hundred 
and seventy-five from Howard, one hundred from Cooper. 
Indeed, every county furnished its quota ; and when they 
set out, it looked like an army." * * * "Tbey were 
armed." * * * u ^^^^ ^^ there were no houses in the 
Territory, they carried tents. Their mission was a peace- 
able one, — to vote, and to drive down stakes for their future, 
homes. After the election, some one thousand five hundred 
of the voters sent a committee to Mr. Reeder, to ascertain 
if it was his purpose to ratify the election. He answered 
that it was, and said the majority at an election must carry 
18* 



210 SPEECH OF 

the flay. But it is not to be denied that the one thousand 
five hundred, apprehending that the Governor niigiit at- 
tempt to play the tyrant, — since his conduct had already 
been insidious and unjust, — wore on their hats bunches of 
hemp. They were resolved, if a tyrant attempted to tram- 
ple upon the rights of the sovereign people, to hang him." 

6. It is again confirmed by the testimony of a 
lady who for five years has lived in Western Mis- 
souri, and thus writes in a letter published in the 
JS'ew Ha/oen Register : 

'•'•Miami^ Saline Co.^ Noxi. 26, 1855. 
"You ask me to tell you something about the Kansas and 
Missouri troubles. Of course you know in Avhat they have 
originated. There is no denying that the Missourians have 
determined to control the elections^ if possible ; and I don't 
know that their measures would be justifiable, except upon 
the principle of self-preservation ; and that, you know, is 
the first law of nature." 

7. And it is confirmed still further by the circu- 
lar of the Emigration Society of Lafayette, in 
Missouri, dated as late as 25th March, 1856, in 
which the efforts of Missourians are openly con- 
fessed : 

"The western counties of Missouri have, for the last two 
years, been heavily taxed, both in money and time, in fight- 
ing the battles of the South. Lafayette County alone has 
expended more than one hundred thousand dollars in money ^ 
and as much or more in time. Up to thi^s time., the border 
counties of Missouri hare upheld and maintained the rights 
and interests of the South in this struggle., unassisted., and 
not unsuccessfully . But the Abolitionists, staking their all 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 211 

upon the Kansas issue, and hesitating at no means, fair or 
foul, are moving heaven and earth to render that beautiful 
Territory a Free Stated 

8. Here, also, is a complete admission of the 
usurpation, by the Intelligencer^ a leading paper 
of St. Louis, Missouri, made in the ensuing sum- 
mer : 

"Atchison and Stringfellow, with their Missoiu-i follow- 
ers, overwhelmed the settlers in Kansas, browbeat and 
bullied them, and took the Government from their hands. 
Missouri votes elected the present body of men who insult 
public intelligence and popular rights by styling themselves 
' the Legislature of Kansas.' This body of men are helping 
themselves to fat speculations, by locating the 'seat of Gov- 
ernment,' and getting town lots for their votes. They are 
passing laws disfranchising all the citizens of Kansas who 
do not believe Negro Slavery to be a Christian institution 
and a national blessing. They are proposing to punish with 
imprisonment the utterance of views inconsistent with their 
own; and they are trying to perpetuate their preposterous 
and infernal tyranny by appointing, for a term of years^ 
creatures of their own, as commissioners in every county, 
to lay and collect taxes, and see that the laws they are pass- 
ing are feith fully executed. Has this age any thing to com- 
pare with these acts in audacity?" 

9. In harmony with all these is the authoritative 
declaration of Governor Eeeder, in a speech ad- 
dressed to his neighbors, at Easton, Pennsylvania, 
at the end of April, 1855, and immediately after- 
wards published in the Washington Union. Here 
it is : 



212 SPEECH OF 

"It was, indeed, too true that Kansas had heen invaded, 
conquered, sulyugated by an armed force from beyond her 
borders, led on by a fanatical spirit, tranii)ling under foot 
the jn-inciples of the Kansas bill and the right of sutfrage." 

10. And in similar liarmony is the complaint of 
the people of Kansas, in a public meeting at Big 
Springs, on the 5th September, 1855, embodied in 
these words : 

'■'■ Resohed, That the body of men who, for the last two 
months, have been passing laws for the people of our Terri- 
tory, moved, counselled, and dictated to, by the demagogues 
of Missouri, are to us a foreign body, representing only the 
lawless invaders who elected them, and not the people of 
the Territory ; that we repudiate their action as the mon- 
strous consummation of an act of violence, usurpation, and 
fraud, unparalleled in the history of the Union, and worthy 
only of men unfitted for the duties and regardless of the 
responsibilities of Republicans." 

11. And, finally, by the official miniites which 
have been laid on our table by the President, the 
invasion, which ended in the usurpation, is clearly 
established ; but the effect of this testimony has 
been so amply exposed by the senator from "Ver- 
mont [Mr, Collamer], in his able and inde- 
fatigable argument, that I content myself with 
simplj^ referring to it. 

On this cumulative, irresistible evidence, in con- 
currence with the antecedent history, I rest. And 
yet, senators here have argued tliat this cannot be 
BO ; precisely as the conspiracy of Catiline was 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 213 

doubted in the R'lman Senate. KonnuUi sunt in 
hoc ordine^ qui aut ea^ quoe imminent^ non vide- 
ant / aut ea^ quae vident^ dissimulent y qui spern 
Catilince mollihus sententiis aluerunt^ conjuratio- 
nemque nascsntem non credendo corrohoraveriint. 
As I listened to the senator from Illinois, while he 
painfully strove to show that there was no usurpa- 
tion, I was reminded of the effort by a distin- 
guished logician, in a much-admired argument, 
to prove that Napoleon Bonaparte never existed. 
And permit me to say that the fact of his exist- 
ence is not placed more completely above doubt 
than the fact of this usurpation. This I assert on 
the proofs already presented. But confirmation 
comes almost while I speak. The columns of the 
public press are now daily filled with testimony, 
solemnly taken before the committee of Congress 
in Kansas, which shows, in awful light, the vio- 
lence ending in the Usurpation. Of this I may 
speak on some other occasion. Meanwhile I j^ro- 
ceed with the development of the Crime. 

The usurping Legislature assembled at the ap- 
pointed place in the interior, and then, at once, in 
opposition to the veto of the Governor, by a ma- 
jority of two thirds, removed to the Shawnee Mis- 
sion, a place in most convenient proximity to the 
Missouri borderers, by whom it had been consti- 
tuted, and whose tyrannical agent it was. The 



214 SPEECH OF 

statutes of Missouri, in all their text, with their 
divisions and subdivisions, were adopted bodily, 
and with such little local adaptation that the word 
" State" in the original is not even changed to 
" Territory," but is left to be corrected by an ex- 
planatory act. But all this general legislation was 
entirely subordinate to the special act, entitled 
"An Act to punish Offences against Slave Prop- 
erty," in which the One Idea, that provoked this 
whole conspiracy, is, at last, embodied in legisla- 
tive form, and human slavery openly recognized 
on free soil, under the sanction of pretended law. 
This act of thirteen sections is in itself a Dance of 
Death. But its complex completeness of wicked- 
ness, without a parallel, may be partially conceived, 
when it is understood that in three sections only of 
it is the penalty of death denounced no less than 
forty-eight different times, by as many changes of 
laTiguage, against the heinous offence, described in 
forty-eight different ways, of interfering with what 
does not exist in that Territory, and under the con- 
stitution cannot exist there, — I mean property in 
human flesh. Thus is Liberty sacrificed to Sla- 
very, and Death summoned to sit at the gates as 
guardian of the Wrong. 

But the work of Usurpation was not perfected 
even yet. It had aleady cost too much to be left 
at any hazard. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 215 



" To be thus was nothing ; 



But to be safely thus !" 

Such was the object. And this could not be, 
exce})t by the entire prostration of all the safe- 
guards of human rights. The liberty of speech, 
which is the very breath of a re]:)ublic ; the press, 
which is the terror of wrong-doers ; the bar, through 
which the oppressed beards the arrogance of law ; 
the jury, by which right is vindicated; all these 
must be struck down, while officers are provided, 
in all places, ready to be the tools of this tyraimy ; 
and then, to obtain final assurance that their crime 
was secure, the whole Usurpation, stretching over 
the Territory, must be fastened and riveted by 
legislative bolts, spikes, and screws, so as to defy 
all effort at change through the ordinary forms of 
law. To this work, in its various parts, were bent 
the subtlest energies ; and never, from Tubal Cain 
to this hour, was any fabric forged with more des- 
perate skill and completeness. 

Mark, sir, three different legislative enactments, 
which constitute part of this work. First^ accord- 
ing to one act, all who deny, by spoken or written 
word, " the right of persons to hold slaves in this 
territory," are denounced as felons, to be punished 
by imprisonment at hard labor, for a term not less 
than two years ; it may be for life. And, to show 
the extravagance of this injustice, it has been well 



216 SPEECH OF 

put by the senator from Yermont [Mr. Collamer], 
that should the senator from Michigan [Mr. Cass], 
who believes that Slavery cannot exist in a Terri- 
tory, unless introduced by express legislative acts, 
venture there with his moderate opinions, his 
doom must be that of a felon ! To this extent are 
the great liberties of speech and of the press sub- 
verted. Secondly, by another act, entitled " An 
Act concerning Attorneys-at-Law," no person can 
practise as an attorney, unless he shall obtain 
a license from the Tenitorial courts, which, of 
course, a tyrannical discretion will be free to 
deny ; and, after obtaining such license, he is con- 
strained to take an oath, not only " to support" 
the constitution of the Uuited States, but also " to 
support and sustain" — mark here the reduplica- 
tion ! — the Territorial act, and the Fugitive Slave 
Bill ; thus erecting a test for the function of the 
bar, calculated to exclude citizens who honestly 
regard that latter legislative enormity as unfit to 
be obeyed. And, thirdly, by another act, enti- 
tled " An Act concerning Jurors," all persons 
" conscientiously opposed to holding slaves," or 
" not admitting the right to hold slaves in the 
Territory," are excluded from the jury on every 
question, civil or criminal, arising out of asserted 
slave property ; while, in all cases, the summon- 
ing of the jury is left without one Avord of restraint 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 217 

to " tbe marshal, slierifF, or other officer," who are 
tlius tree to pack it according to their tyrannical 
discretion. 

For the readv enforcement of all statutes against 
HumaTi Freedom, the President bad already fur- 
nished a powerful quota of ofhcers, in the Gover- 
nor, Chief Justice, Judges, Secretary, Attorney, 
and Marshal. The Legislature completed this 
part of tlie work, by constituting, in each county, 
a Board of Commissioners^ composed of two per- 
sons, associated with the Probate Judge, whose 
duty it is " to appoint a county treasurer, coroner, 
justices of tbe peace, C(»nstables, and all other 
officers pi'ovided for by law," and then proceeded 
to the choice of this very Board ; thus delegating 
and diffusing their usurped power, and tyrannir:;!- 
ly imposing upon the Tei'iitory a crowd of < iiicers 
in whose appointment the people ba^c had no 
voice, directly or indirectly. 

And still the final inexorable work remained. 
A Legislature, renovated in both branches, could 
not assemble until 1858, so that, during this long 
intermediate period, this whole system must con- 
tinue in the likeness of law, unless overturned by 
the Federal Government, or, in default of such 
interposition, by a generous uprising of an op- 
pressed people. But it was necessary to guard 
against the possibility of change, even tardily, at a 

19 



218 SPEECH OF 

future election ; and this M'as done by two dii- 
fercnt acts ; nnder the first of which, all who will 
not take the oath to support the Fugitive Slave 
Bill are excluded from the elective franchise ; and 
under the second of which, all others are entitled 
to vote who shall tender a tax of one dollar to the 
Sheriff on the day of election ; thus, by provision 
of Territorial law, disfranchisiDg all opposed to 
Slavery, and at the same time opening the doijr to 
the votes of the invaders ; by an unconstitutional 
shibboleth, excluding from the polls the mass of 
actual settlers, and by making the franchise de- 
pend upon a petty tax only, admitting to the polls 
the mass of borderers from Missouri. Thus, by 
tyrannical forethought, the Usurpation not only 
fortified all that it did, but assumed a self-perjjet- 
uating energy. 

Thus was the Crime consummated. Slavery 
now stands erect, clanking its chains on the Terri- 
tory of Kansas, surrounded by a code of death, 
and trampling upon all cherished liberties, whether 
of speech, the press, the bar, the trial by jury, or 
the electoral franchise. And, sir, all this has 
been done, not merely to introduce a wTong which 
in itself is a denial of all rights, and in dread of 
which a mother has lately taken the life of her 
offspring ; not merely, as has been sometimes said, 
to protect Slavery in Missouri, since it is futile for 



HON, CHARLES SUMNER, 219 

this State to complain of Freedom on the side of 
Kansas, when Freedom exists without complaint 
on the side of Iowa, and also on the side of Illi- 
nois ; but it has been done for the sake of political 
power, in order to bring two new shiveholding 
senators upon this floor, and thns to fortify in the 
National Government the desperate chances of a 
waning Oligarchy, As the ship, voyaging on 
pleasant summer seas, is assailed by a pirate crew, 
and robbed for the sake of its doubloons and dol- 
lars — so is this beautiful Territory now assailed in 
its peace and prosperity, and robbed in order to 
wrest its political power to the side of Slavery, 
Even now the black flag of the land-pirates from 
Missouri waves at the mast-head ; in their laws 
you hear the pirate yell, and see the flash of the 
pirate-knife ; while, incredible to relate ! the Pres- 
ident, gathering the Slave Power at his back, tes- 
tifies a pirate sympathy. 

Sir, all this was done in the name of Popular 
Sovereignty. And this is the close of the tragedy. 
Popular Sovereignty, which, when truly under- 
stood, is a fountain of just power, has ended in 
Popular Slavery ; not merely in the subjection of 
the unhappy African race, but of this proud Cau- 
casian blood, which you boast. The profession 
with which you began, of All ly the People^ has 
been lost in the wretched reality of Nothing for 



220 SPEECH OF 

the People. Popular Sovereignty, in whose de- 
ceitful name plighted faith was broken, and an 
ancient Landmark of Freedom was overturned, 
now lifts itself before us, like Sin, in the terrible 
picture of Milton, 

" That seemed a woman to the waist, and fair, 
But ended foul in many a scaly fold 
Voluminous and vast, a serpent armed 
"With mortal sting ; about her middle round 
A cry of hell-hounds never ceasing barked 
With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung 
A hideous peal ; yet, when they list, would creep. 
If aught disturbed their noise, into licr womb. 
And kennel there, yet there still barked and howled 
Within, unseen." 

The image is complete at all points ; and, with 
this exposure, I take my leave of the Crime 
against Kansas. 

II. Emerging from all the blackness of this 
Crime, in which we seem to have been lost, as in 
a savage wood, and turning our backs upon it, as 
upon desolation and death, from which, while 
others have suffered, we have escaped, I come 
now to The Apologies which the Crime has found. 
Sir, well may you start at the. suggestion that such 
a series of wrongs, so clearly proved by various 
testimony, so openly confessed by the wrong-doers, 
and so widely recognized throughout the country, 
should find Apologies. But the partisan spirit, 
now, as in other days, hesitates at nothing. The 
fi-reat crimes of historv have never been without 



HON'. CHARLES SUMNER. 221 

Apologies. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
which you now instinctively condemn, was, at 
the time, applauded in high quarters, and even 
commemorated by a Papal medal, which may 
still be procured at Eome ; as the Crime against 
Kansas, which is hardly less conspicuous in dread- 
ful eminence, has been shielded on this floor by 
extenuating words, and even by a Presidential 
message, which, like the Papal medal, can never 
be forgotten in considering the madness and per- 
versity of men. 

Sir, the Crime cannot be denied. The Presi- 
dent himself has admitted "illegal and reprehen- 
sible" conduct. To such conclusion he was com- 
pelled by irresistible evidence ; but what he mild- 
ly describes I openly arraign. Senators may af- 
fect to put it aside by a sneer ; or to reason it 
away by figures; or to explain it by a theory, 
such as desperate invention has produced on this 
floor, that the Assassins and Thugs of Missouri 
were in reality citizens of Kansas; but all these 
eflTorts, so far as made, are only tokens of the 
weakness of the cause, while to the original Crime 
they add another ofience of false testimony against 
innocent and suffering men. But the Apologies 
for the Crime are worse than the efforts at denial. 
In cruelty and heartlessness they identify their 
authors with the great transgression. 

19* 



222 SPEECH OF 

They are four in miniber, and fourfold in char- 
acter. The first is the Apology turatmical ; the 
second, the Apology imhecile ; the third, the 
Apology absurd; and the fourth, the Apology 
iiifarnous. This is all. Tyranny, imbecility, ab- 
surdity, and infamy, all unite to dance, like the 
weird sisters, about this Crime. 

The Apology tyrannical is founded on the mis- 
taken act of Governor Reeder, in authenticating 
the Usurping Legislature, by which it is asserted 
that, whatever may have been the actual force or 
fraud in its election, the people of Kansas are ef- 
fectually concluded, and the whole proceeding is 
placed under the formal sanction of law. Accord- 
ing to this assumption, complaint is now in vain, 
and it only remains that Congress should sit and 
hearken to it, without correcting the wrong, as 
the ancient tyrant listened and granted no redress 
to the human moans that issued from the heated 
brazen bull, which subtle cruelty had devised. 
This I call the A];)ology of technicality inspired 
by tyranny. 

The facts on this head are few and plain. Gov- 
ernor Reedcr, after allowing only five days for 
objections to the returns, — a space of time un- 
reasonably brief in that extensive Territory, — de- 
clared a majority of the members of the Council 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 223 

and of the House of Eepresentatives " duly elected," 
witliheld certificates from certain others, because 
of satisfactory proof that they were not duly 
elected, and appointed a day for new elections to 
supply these vacancies. Afterwards, by formal 
message, he recognized the Legislature as a legal 
body ; and when he vetoed their act of adjourn- 
ment to the neighborhood of Missouri, he did it 
simply on the ground of the illegality of such an 
adjournment under the organic law. Now, to 
every assumption founded on these facts, there are 
two satisfactory replies : first^ that no certificate of 
the Governor can do more than authenticate a 
subsisting legal act, without of itself infusing le- 
gality where the essence of legality is not already ; 
and, secondly^ that violence or fraud, wherever 
disclosed, vitiates completely every proceeding. 
In denying these principles, you place the certifi- 
cate above the thing certified, and give a per- 
petual lease to violence and fraud, merely because 
at an ephemeral moment they were unquestioned. 
This will not do. 

Sir, I am no apologist for Governor Keeder. 
There is sad reason to believe that he went to 
Kansas originally as the tool of the President ; but 
his simple nature, nurtured in the atmosphere of 
Pennsylvania, revolted at the service required, 
and lie turned from his pati-on to duty. Griev- 



224 SPEECH OF 

ouslv did he err in yielding to the Legislatiu'S any 
act of authentication ; but iie has in some measure 
answered for this error by determined efforts since 
to expose the utter illegality of that body, which 
he now repudiates entirely. It w-as said of certain 
Roman Emj)erors, who did infinite mischief in 
their beginnings, and infinite good towards their 
ends, that they should never have been born, or 
never died ; and I would apply the same to the 
ofiicial life of this Kansas Governor. At all events, 
I dismiss the Apology founded on his acts, as the 
utterance of tyranny by the voice of law, trans- 
cending the declaration of the pedantic judge, in 
the British Parliament, on the eve of our Revolu- 
tion, that our fathers, notwithstanding their com- 
plaints, were in reality represented in Parliament, 
inasmuch as their lands, under the original char- 
ters, were held " in common socage, as of the 
manor of Greenwich in Kent," which, being duly 
represented, carried with it all the Colonies. Thus 
in other ages has tyranny assumed the voice of law. 

Next comes the Apology imhecile^ which is 
founded on the alleged want of power in the 
President to arrest this Crime. It is openly as- 
serted that, under the existing laws of the United 
States, the Chief Magistrate had no authority to 
interfere in Kansas for this purpose. Such is the 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 225 

broad statement, wliicli, even if correct, furnishes 
no Apology for any proposed ratification of the 
Crime, but which is in reality nnrrne ; and this I 
call the Apolog-y of imbecility. 

In other matters, no such ostentatious imbecility 
appears. Only lately, a vessel of war in the Pa- 
cific has chastised the cannibals of the Fejee Isl- 
ands for alleged outrages on American citizens. 
But no person of ordinary intelligence will pre- 
tend that American citizens in the Pacific have 
received wrongs from these cannibals comparable 
in atrocity t(j those received by American citizens 
in Kansas. Ah, sir, the interests of Slavery are 
not touched by any chastisement of the Fejees ! 

Constantly we are informed of eftbrts at New 
York, through the agency of the Government, and 
sometimes only on the breath of suspicion, to arrest 
vessels about to sail on foreign voyages in viola- 
tion of our neutrality laws or treaty stii)ulations. 
Now, no man familiar with the cases will presume 
to suggest that the urgency fur these arrests was 
equal to the urgency for interposition against these 
successive invasions from Missouri. But the Slave 
Power is not disturbed by such arrests at New 
York ! 

At this moment, the President exults in the 
vigilance with which he has prevented the enlist- 
ment of a few soldiers, to be carried off to Halifax, 



226 SPEECH OF 

in violation of our territorial sovereignty, and Eng- 
land is bravely threatened, even to the extent of a 
rupture of diplomatic relations, for her endeavor, 
though unsuccessful, and at once abandoned. 
Surely, no man in his senses will ui-ge tliat this 
act was any thing but trivial by tlie side of the 
Crime against Kansas. But the Slave Power is 
not concerned in this controversy ! 

Thus, where the Slave Power is indiiferent, the 
President will see that the laws are faithfully exe- 
cuted ; but, in other cases, where the interests of 
Slavery are at stake, he is controlled absolutely 
by this tyranny, ready at all times to do, or not to 
do, precisely as it dictates. Therefore it is that 
Kansas is left a prey to the Propagandists of 
Slavery, while the whole Treasury, the Army and 
Navy of the United States, are lavished to hunt a 
single slave through the streets of Boston. You 
have not forgotten the latter instance ; but I choose 
to refresh it in your minds. 

As long ago as 1851, the "War Department and 
Navy Department concurred in placing the forces 
of the United States, near Boston, at the command 
of the Marshal, if needed, for the enforcement of 
an act of Congress, which had no support in the 
public conscience, as I believe it has no support 
in the constitution ; and thus these forces were 
degraded to the loathsome work of slave-hunters. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 1'27 

More than three years afterwards, an occasion 
arose for their intervention. A fugitive from Yir- 
glnia, who for some days had trod the streets of 
Boston as a freeman, was seized as a slave. The 
whole community was aroused, while Bunker Hill 
and Faneuil Hall quaked with responsive indig- 
nation. Then, sir, the President, anxious that no 
tittle of Slavery should suffer, was curiously eager 
in the enforcement of the statute. The dispatches 
between him and his agents in Boston attest his 
zeal. Here are some of them : 

'•■Boston, Mm/ 27, 1854. 
" To THE President of the United States : 

" In consequence of an attack upon the Court-house, last 
night, for the purpose of rescuing a fugitive slave, under 
arrest, and in which one of my own guards was killed, I 
have availed myself of the resources of the United States, 
placed under my control l>y letter from the War and Navy 
Department, in 1851, and now have two companies of 
Troops, from Fort Independence, stationed in the Court- 
house. Every thing is now quiet. The attack was repulsed 
by my own guard. " Watson Freeman, 

''United States Marshal, Boston, Mass." 

" Washington, May 27, 1854. 
" To Watson Freeman, 

United States Marshal, Boston, Mass. : 
" Your conduct is approved. The law must be executed. 

'' Franklin Pierce." 

"■Washington, May 30, 1854. 
" To Hon. B. F. Hallet, Boston, Mass. : 
" What is the state of the case of Burns ? 

" Sidney Webster." 

[Privats Seeret«rit of th»Pf<iiid«nt] 



228 SPEECH OF 

"■WasJdngt07i, May 31, 1854. 
" To B. F. Hali.et, 

United States Attorney^ Boston^ Mass. : 
" Incur any expense deemed necessary by the Marshal and 
yourself, for City Military, or otherwise, to insure the exe- 
cution of the law. 

" Feanklin Pierce." 

But the President was not content with such 
forces as were then on hand in the neighborhood. 
Other posts also were put under requisition. Two 
companies of National troops, stationed at New 
York, were kept under arms, ready at any moment 
to proceed to Boston ; and the Adjutant-General 
of the Army was directed to repair to the scene, 
there to superintend the execution of the statute. 
All this was done for the sake of Slavery ; but 
during long months of menace suspended over the 
Free Soil of Kansas, breaking forth in successive 
invasions, the President has folded his hands in 
complete listlessness, or if he has moved at all, it 
has been only to encourage the robber propagan- 
dists. 

And now the intelligence of the country is in- 
sulted by the Apology, that the President had no 
power to interfere. Why, sir, to make this con- 
fession is to confess our Government to be a prac- 
tical failure — which I will never do, except, indeed, 
as it is administered now. No, sir; the imbecility 
of tho Chipf Magistrate shall not be charged upon 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 229 

our American Institutions. Where there is a will 
there is a way; and in his case, liad the will 
existed, there would have been a way, easy and 
triumphant, to guard against the Crime we now 
deplore. His powers were in every respect ample ; 
and this I will prove by the statute-book. By the 
act of Congress of 28th February, 1795, it is en- 
acted, " that whenever the laws of the United 
States shall be opposed, or the execution thereof 
obstructed^ in any State, by combinations too pow- 
erful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of 
judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in 
the marshals," the President may call forth the 
militia. By the supplementary act of 3d March, 
1807, in all cases where he is authorized to call 
forth the militia " for the purpose of causing the 
laws to be duly executed," the President is further 
empowered, in any State or Territory^ " to employ 
for the same purposes such part of the land or na- 
val force of the United States as shall be judged 
necessary." There is the letter of the law ; and 
you will please to mark the power conferred. In 
no case where the laws of the United States are 
ojyposed^ or their execution obstructed^ is the Presi- 
dent constrained to wait for the requisition of a 
Governor, or even the petition of a citizen. Just 
so soon as he learns the fact, no matter by what 
channel, he is invested by law with full power to 

2Q 



230 SPEECH OF 

counteract it. True it is, that when the laivs of a 
State are obstructed, lie can interfere only on the 
application of the Legislature of such State, or of 
th-e Executive, when the Legislature cannot be 
convened ; but when the Federal laws are ob- 
structed, no such preliminary application is neces- 
sary. It is his high duty, under his oath of office, 
to see that they are executed, and, if need be, by 
the Federal forces. 

And, sir, this is the precise exigency that has 
arisen in Kansas, — precisely this, nor more, nor 
less. The act of Congress, constituting the very 
organic law of the Territory, which, in peculiar 
phrase, as if to avoid ambiguity, declares, as " its 
true intent and meaning," that the people thereof 
"shall be left perfectly free to form and regulate 
their domestic institutions in their own way," has 
been from the beginning opposed and obstructed in 
its execution. If the President had power to em- 
ploy the Federal forces in Boston, when he sup- 
posed the Fugitive Slave Bill was obstructed, and 
merely in anticipation of such obstruction, it is 
absurd to say that he had not power in Kansas, 
when, in the face of the whole country, the very 
organic law of the Territory was trampled under 
foot by successive invasions, and the freedom of 
the people there overthrown. To assert ignorance 
of this obstruction — premeditated, long-continued, 



HON. CHARLES SUMXER. 231 

and stretching tlirongh months — attributes to him 
not merely imbecility, but idiocy. And thus do 1 
dispose of this Apology, 

ISText comes the Apology absurd^ which is, in- 
deed, in the nature of a pretext. It is alleged 
that a small printed pamphlet, containing the 
" Constitution and Ritual of the Grand Encamp- 
ment and Regiments of the Kansas Legion," was 
taken from the person of one George F. Warren, 
who attempted to avoid detection by chewing it. 
The oaths and grandiose titles of the pretended 
Legion have all been set forth, and this poor 
mummery of a secret society, which existed only 
on paper, has been gravely introduced on this 
floor, in order to extenuate the Crime against Kan- 
sas. It has been paraded in more than one speech, 
and even stuffed into the report of the committee. 

A part of the obligations assumed by the mem- 
bers of this Legion shows why it has been thus 
pursued, and also attests its innocence. It is as 
follows : 

" I will never knowingly propose a person for member- 
ship in this order who is not in favor of making Kansas a 
free State, and whom I feel satisfied will exert his entire 
influence to bring about this result. I will support, main- 
tain, and abide by, any honorable movement made by tlie 
organization to secure this great end, which will not conflict 
with the laws of the country and the Constitiction of the 
United State*." 



232 SPEECH OF 

Kansas is to be made a free State, bv an honor- 
able movement, whicli will not conflict with the 
laws and the constitution. That is the object of 
the organization, declared in the very words of the 
initiatory obligation. Where is the wrong in this? 
AYhat is there here which can cast reproach, or 
even suspicion upon the people of Kansas ? Grant 
that the Legion was constituted, can you extract 
from it any Apology for the original Crime, or for 
its present ratification ? Secret societies, with 
their extravagant oaths, are justly offensive; but 
who can find, in this mistaken machinery, any ex- 
cuse for the denial of all rights to the people of 
Kansas ? All this I say on the supposition that 
the society was a reality — which it was not. Ex- 
isting in the fantastic brains of a few persons only, 
it never had any practical life. It was never or- 
ganized. The whole tale, with the mode of ob- 
taining the coj^y of the constitution, is at once a 
cock-and-bull story and a mare's nest ; trivial as 
the former, absurd as the latter ; and to be dis- 
missed, with the Apology founded upon it, to the 
derision which triviality and absurdity justly re- 
ceive. 

It only remains, under this head, that I should 
speak of the Apology infamous / founded on false 
testimony against the Emigrant Aid Company, and 



H O X . CHARLES S U I'.I X E R . 233 

assumptions of dvity more false than the testimony. 
Defying Truth and mocking Decency, this Apol- 
ogy excels all others in futility and audacity, while, 
from its utter hollowness, it proves the utter impo- 
tence of the conspirators to defend their Crime. 
Falsehood, always infamous^ in this case arouses 
peculiar scorn. An association of sincere benev- 
olence, faithful to the constitution and laws, whose 
only fortifications are hotels, school-houses, and 
churches ; whose only weapons are saw-mills, tools, 
and books ; whose mission is peace and good-will, 
has been falsely assailed on this floor, and an 
errand of blameless virtue has been made the pre- 
text for an unpardonable Crime, i^ay, more — 
the innocent are sacrificed, and the guilty set at 
liberty. They who seek to do the mission of the 
Saviour are scourged and crucified, while the mur- 
derer, Barabbas, with the sympathy of the chief 
priests, goes at large. 

"Were I to take counsel of my own feelings, I 
should dismiss this whole Apology to the inefiable 
contempt which it deserves ; but it has been made 
to play such a part in this conspiracy, that 1 feel 
it a duty to expose it completely. 

Sir, from the earliest times, men have recog- 
nized the advantages of organization, as an eflfec- 
tive agency in promoting works of peace or war. 
Especially at this moment, there is no interest, 

20» 



234 SPEECH OF 

public or private, high or low, of charity or trade, 
of luxury or convenience, which does not seek its 
aid. Men organize to rear churches and to sell 
thread ; to build schools and to sail ships ; to con- 
struct roads and to manufacture toys ; to spin cot- 
ton and to print books ; to w^eave cloths and to 
quicken harvests ; to provide food and to distrib- 
ute light; to influence Public Opinion and to 
secure votes ; to guard infancy in its weakness, old 
age in its decrepitude, and womanhood in its 
wretchedness ; and now, in all large towns, when 
death has come, they are buried by organized so- 
cieties, and, emigrants to another world, they lie 
down in pleasant places, adorned by organized 
skill. To complain that this prevailing principle 
has been applied to living emigration, is to com- 
plain of Providence and the irresistible tendencies 
implanted in man. 

But this application of the principle is no recent 
invention, brought forth for an existing emergency. 
It has the best stamp of antiquity. It showed itself 
in the brightest days of Greece, where colonists 
moved in organized bands. It became a part of 
the mature policy of Rome, where bodies of men 
were constituted expressly fur this purpose, trium- 
viri ad colonos deduoendos. — (Livy, xxxvii. § 4G.) 
Naturally it has been accepted in modern times 
by every civilized State. With the sanction of 



HOX. CHARLES SUMNER. 235 

Spain, an association of Genoese merchants first 
introduced slaves to this continent. With the 
sanction of France, the Society of Jesuits stretched 
their labors over Canada and the Great Lakes to 
the Mississippi. It was under the auspices of Emi- 
grant xVid Companies that our country was origin- 
ally settled, by the Pilgrim Fathers of Plymouth, 
by the adventurers of Virginia, and by the philan- 
thropic Oglethorpe, whose " benevolence of soul," 
commemorated by Pope, sought to plant a Free 
State in Georgia. At this day, such associations, 
of a humbler character, are found in Europe, with 
offices in tlie great capitals, through whose activi- 
ty emigrants are directed here. 

For a long time, emigration to the West, from 
the iSTorthern and Middle States, but particularly 
from New England, has been of marked signifi- 
cance. In quest of better homes, annually it has 
pressed to the unsettled lands, in numbers to be 
counted by tens of thousands ; but this has been 
done heretofore with little knowledge, and without 
guide or counsel. Finally, when, by the establish- 
ment of a Government in Kansas, the tempting 
fields of that central region were opened to the com- 
petition of peaceful colonization, and especially 
when it was declared that the question of Freedom 
or Slavery there was to be determined by the votes 
of actual settlers, then at once was organization en- 



236 SPEECH OF 

listed as an effecti^-e agency in qniclcening and 
conducting the emigration impelled thither, and, 
more tlian all, in providing homes for it on arrival 
there. 

The Company was first constitnted nnder an act 
of the Legislature of Massachusetts, 4th of May, 
1854, some weeks j^rior to the passage of the Ne- 
braska Bill. The original act of incorporation was 
subsequently abandoned, and a new charter re- 
ceived in February, 1855, in which the objects of 
the Society are thus declared : 

"For the purposes of directing emigration "Westward, and 
aiding in providing accommodations for the emigrants after 
arriving at their places of destination.'''' 

At any other moment, an association for these 
purposes would have taken its place, by general 
consent, among the philanthropic experiments of 
the age ; but crime is always suspicious, and shakes, 
like a sick man, merely at the pointing of a finger. 
The conspirators against freedom in Kansas now 
shook M'ith tremor, real or affected. Their wicked 
j)lot was about to fail. To help themselves, they 
denounced the Emigrant Aid Company; and their 
denunciations, after finding an echo in the Presi- 
dent, have been repeated, with much particularity, 
on this floor, in the formal report of your com- 
mittee. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 237 

The falsehood of the whole accusation will ap- 
pear in illustrative specimens. 

A charter is set out, section by section, which, 
though originally granted, was subsequently aban- 
doned, and is not in reality the charter of the Com- 
pany, but is materially unlike it. 

The Company is represented as " a powerful 
corporation, with a capital of five millions ;" when, 
by its actual charter, it is not allowed to hold pro- 
perty above one million, and in point of fact its 
capital has not exceeded one hundred thousand 
dollars. 

Then, again, it is suggested, if not alleged, that 
this enormous capital, which I have already said 
does not exist, is invested in " cannon and rifles, 
in powder and lead, and implements of war," — 
all of which, whether alleged or suggested, is 
absolutely false. Tlie ofiicers of the Company 
authorize me to give to this whole pretension a 
point-blank denial. 

All these allegations are of small importance, 
and I mention them only because they show the 
character of the report, and also something of the 
quicksand on which the senatoi- from Illinois has 
chosen to plant himself. But these are all capped 
by the unblushing assertion that the proceedings 
of the Company were " in perversion of the plain 
provisions of an act of Congress ;" and also an- 



238 SPEECH OF 

Other unblushing assertion, as " certain and un- 
deniable," tliat the Company was formed to pro- 
mote certain objects, "regardless of the rights and 
wishes of the people, as guaranteed by the consti- 
tution of the United States, and secured by their 
organic law ;" when it is certain and undeniable 
that the Company has done nothing in perversion 
of any act of Congress, while, to the extent of its 
power, it has sought to protect the rights and 
wishes of the actual people in the Territory. 

Sir, this Comj^any has violated in no respect the 
constitution or laws of the land ; not in the se- 
verest letter or the slightest spirit. But every other 
imputation is equally baseless. It is not true, as 
the senator from Illinois has alleged, in order in 
some way to compromise the Company, that it 
was informed before the public of the date fixed 
for the election of the Legislature. This statement 
is pronounced by the Secretary, in a letter now be- 
fore me, " an unqualified falsehood, not having 
even the shadow of a shade of truth for its basis." 
It is not true that men have been hired by the 
Company to go to Kansas ; for every emigrant, 
who has gone under its direction, has himself pro- 
vided the means for his journey. Of course, sir, 
it is not true, as has been complained by the sen- 
ator from South Carolina, with that proclivity to 
erroi- which marks all his utterances, that men 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 239 

have been sent by the Company "with one uni- 
funn gun, Sharpens rifle ;" for it has supplied no 
ai'ms of any kind to anybody. It is not true that 
the Company has encouraged any fanatical aggres- 
sion upon the people of Missouri ; for it has coun- 
selled order, peace, forbearance. It is not true 
that the Company has chosen its emigrants on ac- 
count of their political opinions ; for it has asked 
no questions with regard to the opinions of any 
whom it aids, and at this moment stands ready to 
forward those from the South as well as the Xorth, 
while, in the Territory, all, from whatever quarter, 
are admitted to an equal enjoyment of its tempt- 
ing advantages. It is not ti-ue that the Company 
has sent persons merely to control elections, and 
not to remain in the Territory ; for its whole ac- 
tion, and all its anticipation of pecuniary profits, are 
founded on the hope to stock the country with per- 
manent settlers, by whose labor the capital of the 
Company shall be made to yield its increase, and 
by whose fixed interest in the soil the welfare of 
all shall be promoted. 

Sir, it has not the honor of being an Abolition 
society, or of numbering among its officers Aboli- 
tionists. Its President is a retired citizen, of am- 
ple means and charitable life, who has taken no 
part in the conflicts on Slavery, and has never al- 
lowed his sympathies to be felt by Abolitionists. 



240 SPEECH OF 

One of its Yice-Presidents is a gentleman from 
Virginia, witli family and friends there, who has 
always opposed the Abolitionists. Its generous 
Treasurer, wdio is now justly absorbed by the ob- 
jects of the Company, has always been understood 
as ranging with his extensive connections, by blood 
and marriage, on the side of that quietism whicli 
submits to all the tyranny of the Slave Power. 
Its Directors are more conspicuous for wealth and 
science than for any activity against Slavery. 
Among these is an eminent lawyer of Massachu- 
setts, Mr. Chapman, — personally known, doubtless, 
to some who hear me, — who has distinguished him- 
self by an austere conservatism, too natural to the 
atmosphere of courts, which does not flinch even 
from the support of the Fugitive Slave Bill. In a 
recent address at a public meeting in Springfield, 
this gentleman thus speaks for himself and his as- 
sociates : 

" I liave been a Director of the Society from the first, and 
have kept myself well informed in regard to its proceedings. 
I am not aware that any one in this community ever sus- 
pected me of being an Abolitionist; but I have been accused 
of being Pro-Slavery ; and I believe many good people think 
I am quite too conservative on that subject. I take this 
occasion to say that all the plans and proceedings of the 
Society have met my approbation ; and I assert that it has 
never done a single act with which any political party, or 
the people of any section of the country, can justly find 
fault. The name of its President, Mr. Brown, of Provi- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 2ii 

dence, and of its Treasurer, Mr. Lawrence, of Boston, are a 
sufficient guaranty, in the estimation of intelligent men, 
against its being engaged in any fanatical enterprise. Its 
stockholders are composed of men of all political parties, 
except Abolitionists. I am not aware that it has received 
the patronage of that class of our fellow-citizens, and I am 
informed that some of them disapprove of its proceedings." 

The acts of the Company have been such as 
might be expected from auspices thus severely 
careful at all points. The secret through which, 
with small means, it has been able to accomplish 
so much, is, that, as an inducement to emigration^ 
it has gone forwaixl and planted capital in ad- 
vance of population. According to the old im- 
methocllcal system, this rule is reversed, and pop- 
ulation has been left to grope blindly, without the 
advantage of lixed centres, with mills, schools. ;^.;.d 
churches, — all calculated to soften the hnrdships 
of pioneer life, — such as have been established 
beforehand in Kansas. Here, sir. is the secret of 
the Emigrant Aid Company. By this single prin- 
ciple, which is now practically applied for the first 
time in history, and which has the simplicity of 
genius, a business association at a distance, with- 
out a large capital, has become a beneficent instni- 
ment of civilization, exercising the functions of 
various societies, and in itself being a Missionary 
Society, a Bible Society, a Tract Society, an Edu- 
cation Society, and a Society for the Diffusion of 

21 



242 SPEECHOF 

the Mechanic Arts. I would not claim too much 
for this Company ; but I doubt if, at this moment, 
there is any society which is so completely philan- 
thropic ; and since its leading idea, like the liglit 
of a candle, from which other candles are lighted 
without number, may be ajiplied indefinitely, it 
promises to be an important aid to Human Pro- 
gress. The lesson it teaches cannot be forgotten ; 
and hereafter, wherever unsettled lands exist, in- 
telligent capital will lead the way, anticipating 
the wants of the pioneer, — nay, doing the very 
work of the original pioneer, — while, amidst well- 
arranged harmonies, a new community will arise, 
to become, by its example, a more eloquent 
preacher than any solitary missionary. In subor- 
dination to this essential idea is its humbler ma- 
chinery for the aid of emigrants on their way, by 
combining jjarties, so that friends and neighbors 
might journey together; by purchasing tickets at 
wholesale, and furnishing them to individuals at 
the actual cost; by providing for each party a 
conductor familiar with the road, and, through 
these simple means, promoting the economy, safety, 
and comfoi-t of the expedition. The number of 
emigrants it has directly aided, even thus slightly, 
in their journey, has been infinitely exaggerated. 
From the beginning of its operations, down to the 
close of the last autumn, all its detachments from 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 243 

Massacliusetts contained only thirteen hundred 
and twelve persons. 

Such is the sim23le tale of the Emigrant Aid 
Conipanj. Sir, not even suspicion can justly 
touch it. But it must be made a scapegoat. This 
is the decree which has gone forth, I was hardly 
surprised at this outrage, when it proceeded from 
the President, for, like Macbeth, he is stepped so 
far in, that returning were as tedious as go on; 
but I did not expect it from the senator from Mis- 
souri [Mr. Geyer], whom I had learned to respect 
for the general moderation of his views, and the 
name he has won in an honorable profession. List- 
ening to him, I was saddened by the spectacle 
of the extent to which Slavery will sway a candid 
mind to do injustice. Had any other interest been 
in question, that senator would have scorned to 
join in impeachment of such an association. His 
instincts as a lawyer, as a man of honor, and as a 
senator, would have forbidden ; but the Slave 
Power, in enforcing its behests, allows no hesita- 
tion, and the senator surrendered. 

In this vindication, I content myself with a 
statement of facts, rather than an argument. It 
might be urged that Missouri had organized a 
propagandist emigration long before any from 
Massachusetts ; and you might be reminded of the 
wolf in the fable, which complained of the lamb 



244 SPEECH OF 

for disturbing the waters, when in fact the alleged 
offender was lower down on the stream. It might 
be nrged, also, that South Carolina has lately 
entered upon a similar system, while one of her 
cliieftains, in rallying recruits, has unconsciously 
attested to the cause in which he was engaged, by 
exclaiming, in the words of Satan, addressed to 
his wiched force, " Awahe ! arise! or be forever 
fallen !"* But the occasion needs no such de- 
fences. I put them aside. Not on the example 
of Missouri, or the example of South Carolina, 
but on inherent rights, which no man, whether 
senator or President, can justly assail, do I plant 
this imjjregnable justification. It will not do, in 
specious phrases, to allege the right of every State 
to be free in its domestic policy from foreign in- 
terference, and then to assume such wrongful in- 
terference by this Company. By the law and 
constitution we stand or fall ; and that law and 
constitution we have in no respect offended. 

To cloak the overthrow of all law in Kansas, an 
assumptit)n is now set up, which utterly denies 
one of the plainest rights of the people every- 
where. Sir, I beg senators to understand that 
this is a Government of laws ; and that, under 



* Mr. Evans, of South Carolina, here interrupted Mr. Sumner to 
Bay tliat he did not know of any such address. Mr. Sujikke replied 
that it was taken from Southern papers. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 245 

these laws, the people have an incontestable right 
to settle any portion of our broad territory, and, 
if they choose, to propagate any opinions there 
not oj^enly forbidden by the laws. If this were 
not so, pray, sir, by wliat title is the senattjr from 
Illinois, who is an emigrant from Yermunt, pro- 
pagating his disastrous opinions in another State ? 
Surely he has no monopoly of this right. Others 
may do what he is doing ; nor can the right be in 
any way restrained. It is as broad as the people ; 
and it matters not whether they go in numbei'S 
small or great, with assistance or without assist- 
ance, under the auspices of societies or not under 
such auspices. If this were not so, then, by what 
title are so many foreigners annually naturalized, 
under Democratic auspices, in order to secure 
their votes fur misnamed Democratic principles ? 
And if capital as well as combination cannctt be 
employed, by what title do venerable associations 
exist, of ampler means and longer duration than 
any Emigrant Aid Company, around which cluster 
the regard and confidence of the country? — the 
Tract Society, a powerful corporation, which scat- 
ters its publications freely in every ct)rner of the 
laud; the Bible Society, an incorporated body, 
with large resources, which seeks to carry the 
Book of Life alike into Territories and States ; the 
Missionary Society, also an incorporated body, 
21 « 



246 SPEECH OF 

witli large resources, wliicli sends its agents every- 
where, at home aud in foreign lands. — By what 
title do all these exist? Nay, sir, by what title 
does an Insui-ance Company in New York send 
its agent to open an office in New Oi-leans, and 
by what title does Massachusetts capital contribute 
to the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad in Mis- 
souri, and also to the copper mines of Michigan? 
The senator inveighs against the Native American 
party ; but his own principle is narrower than any 
attributed to them. They object to the influence 
of emigrants from abroad ; he objects to the influ- 
ence of American citizens at home, when exerted 
in States or Territories where they were not born ! 
The whole assumption is too audacious for respect- 
ful argument. But, since a great right has been 
denied, the children of the Free States, over whose 
cradles has shone the North Star, owe it to them- 
selves, to their ancestors, and to Freedom itself, 
that this right should now be asserted to the fullest 
extent. By the blessing of God, and under the 
continued protection of the laws, they will go to 
Kansas, there to plant their homes, in the hope of 
elevating this Territory soon into the sisterhood of 
Free States ; and to such end they will not hesi- 
tate, in the employment of all legitimate means, 
whether by companies of men or contributions of 
money, to swell a virtuous emigration, and they 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 247 

will jnstly scont any atteinpt to question this un- 
questionable right. Sir, if thej failed to do this, 
thev would be fit only for slaves themselves. 

God be praised ! Massachusetts, honored Com- 
monwealth that gives me the privilege to plead for 
Kansas on this floor, knows her rights, and will 
maintain them firmly to the end. This is not the 
first time in history that her public acts have been 
arraigned, and that her public men have been ex- 
posed to contumely. Thus was it when, in the 
olden time, she began the great battle whose fruits 
you all enjoy. But never yet has she occupied a 
position so lofty as at this hour. By the intelli- 
gence of her population — by the resources of her 
industry — by her commerce, cleaving every wave 
— by her manufactures, various as human skill — • 
by her institutions of education, various as human 
knowledge— by her institutions of benevolence, 
various as human suffering — by the pages of her 
scholars and iiistorians — by the voices of her poets 
and orators, she is now exerting an influence more 
subtle and commanding than ever before — shoot- 
ing her far-darting rays wherever ignorance, 
wretchedness, or wrong prevail, and flasliing light 
even upon those who travel far to persecute her. 
Such is Massachusetts; and I am proud to believe 
that you may as well attempt, with puny arm, to 
topple down the earth-rooted, heaven-kissing gra- 



248 SPEECH OF 

nite which crowns the historic sod of Bunker Hill, 
as to change her fixed resolves for Freedom every- 
where, and especially now fur Freedom in Kansas. 
I exult, too, that in this battle, which sni-passes fai*, 
in moral grandeur, the wh<_'le war of the Revolu- 
tion, she is able to preserve her just eminence. To 
the first she contributed a larger number of troops 
than any other State in the Union, and larger than 
all the Slave States together ; and now to the sec- 
ond, which is not of contending armies, but of con- 
tending opinions, on whose issue hangs ti-embling 
the advancing civilization of the country, she con- 
tributes, through the manifold and endless intellec- 
tual activity of her children, more of that divine 
spark by which opinions are (juickened into life, 
than is contributed by any other State, or by all 
the Slave States together; while her annual pro- 
ductive industry excels in value three times the 
whole vaunted cotton crop of the wdiole South. 

Sir, to men on earth it belongs only to deserve 
success — not to secure it ; and I know not how 
soon the efforts of Massachusetts will wear the 
crown of triumph. But it cannot be that she acts 
wrong for herself or children, when in this cause 
she thus encounters reproach. No ; by the gen- 
erous souls who were exposed at Lexington ; by 
those who stood arrayed at Buid<er Hill ; by the 
many from her bosom who, on all the fields of the 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 249 

first great struggle, lent their vigorous arms to the 
cause of all ; by the children she has borne, whose 
names alone are national trophies, is Massachusetts 
now vowed irrevocably to this work. What be- 
lono-s to the ftvithful servant she will do in all 
things, and Providence shall determine the result. 
And here ends what I have to say of the fom- 
Apologies for the Crime against Kansas. 

III. From this ample survey, where one obstruc- 
tion after another has been removed, I now pass, 
in the third place, to the consideration of the vari- 
ous remedies proposed^ ending with the Tkde 
Kemedy. 

The Remedy should be coextensive with the ori- 
ginal Wrong ; and since, by the passage of the 
Nebraska Bill, not only Kansas, but also Nebraska, 
Minnesota, "Washington, and even Oregon, have 
been opened to Slavery, the original Prohibition 
should be restored to its complete activity through- 
out these various Territories. By such a hai)py 
restoration, made in good faith, the whole country 
would be replaced in the condition which it en- 
joyed before the introduction of that dishonest 
measure. Here is the Alpha and the Omega of 
our aim in this innnediate controversy. But no 
Buch extensive measure is now in question. The 
Crime against Kansas has been special, and all 



250 SPEECH OP 

else is absorbed in the special remedies for it. Of 
these I shall now speak. 

As the Apologies were four-fold, so are the Rem- 
edies proposed four-fold; and they range them- 
selves in natural order, under designations which 
so truly disclose their character as even to super- 
sede argument. First, we have the Remedy of 
Tyranny ; next, the Remedy of Folly ; next, the 
Remedy of Injustice and Civil War; and fourthly, 
the Remedy of Justice and Peace. There are the 
four caskets ; and you are to determine which 
shall be opened by senatorial votes. 

There is the Remedy of Tyranny^ which, like 
its complement, the Apology of Tyranny, though 
espoused on this floor especially by the senator 
from Illinois, proceeds from the President, and is 
embodied in a special message. It proposes to 
enforce obedience to the existing laws of Kansas, 
" whether Federal or local^'' when, in fact, Kansas 
has no " local" laws except those imposed by the 
Usurpation from Missouri ; and it calls for addi- 
tional appropriations to complete this work of 
tyranny. 

I shall not follow the President in his elaborate 
endeavor to prejudge the contested election now 
pending in the House of Representatives ; for this 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 251 

whole matter belongs to the privileges of that 
body, and neither the President nor the Senate has 
a right to intermeddle therewith. I do not touch 
it. But now, while dismissing it, I should not par- 
don myself if I failed to add, that any person who 
founds liis claim to a seat in Congress on the pre- 
tended votes of hirelings from another State, with 
no home on the soil of Kansas, plays the part of 
Anachai-sis Clootz, who, at the bar of the French 
Convention, undertook to represent nations that 
knew him not, or, if they knew him, scorned him ; 
with this difference, that in our American case the 
excessive farce of the transaction cannot cover its 
tragedy. But all this I put aside, to deal only 
with what is legitimately before the Senate. 

I expose simply the Tyranny which upholds the 
existing Usurpation, and asks for additional appro- 
priations. Let it be judged by an example, from 
which in this country there can be no appeal. 
Here is the speech of George III., made from the 
Throne to Parliament, in response to the complaints 
of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which, 
though smarting under laws passed by usurped 
power, had yet avoided all armed opposition, 
while Lexington and Bunker Hill still slumbered 
in rural solitude, unconscious of the historic kin- 
dred which they were soon to claim. Instead of 
Massachusetts Bay, in the Royal speech, substitute 



262 SPEECH OF 

Kansas, and the message of the President will be 
found fresh on the lips of the British king. Listen 
now to the words, which, in opening Parliament, 
30th November, 1774, his Majesty, according to 
the official report, was pleased to speak : 

" My Lords and Gentlemen : 

" It gives me much concern that I am obliged, at the open- 
ing of this Parliament, to inform you that a most daring 
spirit of resistance and disohedience to the laio still unhap- 
pily prevails in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay^ and 
has in divers parts of it broke forth in fresh violences of a 
very criminal nature. These proceedings have been coun- 
tenanced in other of my Colonies, and unwarrantable at- 
tempts have been made to obstruct the commerce of this 
Kingdom, by unlawful combinations. I have taken such 
measures, and given such orders, as I have judged most 
proper and effectual for carrying into execution the laws 
which were passed in the last session of the late Parliament 
for the protection and security of the commerce of my sub- 
jects, and for the restoring and preserving peace, order, and 
good government, in the Province of the Massachusetts 
Bay." — American Archives, 4th series, vol. i. page 1465. 

The King complained of a "daring spirit of re- 
sistance and disobedience to the law ;" so also does 
the President. The King adds that it has " broke 
forth in fresh violences of a very criminal nature ;" 
60 also does the President. Tlie King declares 
that these proceedings have been " countenanced 
and encouraged in other of my Colonies ;" even 
so the President declares that Kansas has found 
sympathy in "remote States." The King inveighs 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 253 

against " unwarrantable measures" and " unlaw- 
ful combinations;" even so inveighs the President, 
The King proclaims that he has taken the neces- 
sary steps " for carrying into execution the laws," 
j^assed in defiance of the constitutional rights of 
the Colonies; even so the President proclaims 
that he shall " exert the whole power of the Fed- 
dral Executive" to support the Usurpation in Kan- 
sas. The parallel is complete. The message, if 
not copied from the speech of the King, has been 
fashioned on the same original block, and must be 
dismissed to the same limbo. I dismiss its tyran- 
nical assumptions in favor of the Usurpation. 1 
dismiss also its petition for additional appropria- 
tions in the affected desire to maintain order in 
Kansas. It is not money or troops that you need 
there, but simply the good-will of the President. 
That is all, absolutely. Let his complicity with 
the Crime cease, and peace will be restored. For 
myself, I will not consent to wad the national ar- 
tillery with fresh appropriation bills, when its 
murderous hail is to be directed against the con- 
stitutional rights of my fellow-citizens. 

Next comes the Bemedy of FolJy^ which, in- 
deed, is also a Remedy of Tyranny ; but its Folly 
is so surpassing as to eclipse even its Tyranny. It 
does not proceed from the President. AYith this 



254 SPEECH OF 

proposition he is not in any way chargeable. It 
conies from the senator from South Carolina, who, 
at the cLise of a long speech, offered it as his sin- 
gle contribution to the adjustment of this question, 
and who thus far stands alone in its support. It 
might, therefore, fitly bear his name ; but that 
which I now give to it is a more suggestive syno- 
nym. 

This proposition, nakedly expressed, is, that the 
people of Kansas should be de23rived of their arms. 
That I may not do the least injustice to the sena- 
tor, I quote his precise words : 

"The President of the United States is under the highest 
and most solemn obligations to interpose; and, if I were to 
indicate the manner in which he should interpose in Kansas, 
I would point out the old common-law process ; I would 
serve a warrant on Sharpens rifles, and if Sharpe's rifles did 
not answer the summons, and come into court on a day cer- 
tain, or if they resisted the sheriff, I would summon the 
posse comitatus^ and would have Colonel Sumner's regiment 
to be a part of that posse comitatus.'''' 

Eeally, sir, has it come to this? The rifle has 
ever been the companion of the pioneer, and, un- 
der God, his tutelary protector against the red-man 
and the beast of the forest. Never was this effi- 
cient weapon more needed in just self defence than 
now in Kansas, and at least one article in our Na- 
tional Constitution must be blotted out, before the 
complete right to it can in any way be impeached. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 255 

And yet, such is the madness of the hour, that, in 
defiance of the solemn guaranty, embodied in the 
Amendments of the Constitution, that " the right 
of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed," the people of Kansas have been ar- 
raigned for keeping and bearing them, and the 
senator from South Carolina has had the ftice to 
say openly, on this floor, that they should be dis- 
armed — of course, that the fanatics of Slavery, his 
allies and constituents, may meet no impediment. 
Sir, the senator is venerable with years; he is 
reputed also to have worn at home, in the State 
which he represents, judicial honors: and he is 
placed here at the head of an important committee 
occupied particularly with questions of law; but 
neither his years, nor his position, past or present, 
can give respectability to the demand he has 
made, or save him from indignant condemnation, 
when, to compass the wretched purposes of a 
wretched cause, he thus proposes to trample on 
one of the plainest provisions of constitutional lib- 
erty. 

Next comes the Remedy of Injustice and Ciml 
War — organized by Act of Congress. This propo- 
sition, which is also an offshoot of the original 
Remedy of Tyranny, proceeds from the senator 
from Illinois [Mr. Douglas], wnth the sanction of 



256 SPEECH OF 

the Committee on Territories, and is embodied in 
the Bill which is now pressed to a vote. 
By this Bill it is pr(_»posed as follows : 

" That wlienever it shall appear, by a census to be taken 
under the direction of the Governor, by the authority of the 
Legislature, that there shall be 93,420 inhabitants (that be- 
ing the number required by the present ratio of representa- 
tion for a member of Congress) within the limits hereafter 
described as the Territory of Kansas, the Legislature of 
said Territory shall Je, and is hereby^ authorized to provide 
hy law for the election of delegates^ by the people of said 
Territory, to assemble in Convention, and form a Constitu- 
tion and State Government, preparatory to their admission 
into the Union on an equal footing with the original States 
in all respects whatsoever, by the name of the State of 
Kansas." 

Now, sir, consider these words carefully, and 
you will see that, however jilansible and velvet- 
pawed they may seem, j^et, in reality, they are 
most nnjust and cruel. While affecting to initiate 
honest proceedings for the formation of a State, 
they furnish to this Territory no redress for the 
Crime under which it suffers ; nay, they recognize 
the very Usurpation, in which the Crime ended, 
and proceed to endow it with new prerogatives. 
It is hy the authority of the Legislature that the 
census is to be taken, which is the first step in the 
work. It is also hy the authority of the Legisla- 
ture that a Convention is to be called for the for- 
mation of a Constitution, which is the second step. 



HON". CHARLES SUMNER. 257 

Bnt the Lesrislature is not oblio-ed to take either 
of these steps. To its aljsohite wilfubiess is it 
left to act or not to act in the premises. And since, 
in the ordinary course of business, there can be no 
action of the Legislature till January of the next 
year, all these steps, which are preliminary in 
their character, are postponed till after that distant 
day — thus keeping this great question open, to dis- 
tract and irritate the country. Clearly this is not 
what is required. The country desires peace at 
once, and is determined to have it. But this ob- 
jection is slight by the side of the glaring Tyr- 
anny, that, in recognizing the Legislature, and con- 
ferring upon it these new powers, the Bill recog- 
nizes the existing Usurpation, not only as tlie 
authentic Government of the Territory for the 
time being, but also as possessing a creative power 
to reproduce itself in the new State. Pass this 
Bill, and you enlist Congress in the conspiracy, 
not only to keep the people of Kansas in their 
present subjugation, throughout their Territorial 
existence, but also to protract this subjugation into 
their existence as a State, while you legalize and 
perpetuate the very force by which Slavery has 
been already planted there. 

I know that there is another deceptive clause, 
which seems to throw certain safeguards around 
the election of delegates to the Convention, xolien 



258 SPEECH OF 

that Convention, shall he ordered hy the Legisla- 
ture / but out of this very clause do I draw a con- 
demnation of the Usur])ation which the Bill rec- 
ognizes. It provides that the tests, coupled with 
the electoral franchise, shall not prevail in the 
election of delegates, and thus impliedly condemns 
them. But, if they are not to j)revail on this oc- 
casion, why are they permitted at the election of 
the Legislature ? If they are unjust in the one 
case, they are unjust in the other. If annulled at 
the election of delegates, they should be annulled 
at the election of the Legislature ; vjhereas the 
Bill of the senator leaves all these offensive tests 
in full activity at the election of the very Legis- 
lature out of which this whole proceeding is to 
come, and it leaves the polls at both elections in 
the control of the officers appointed by the LTsur- 
pation. Consider well the facts. By an existing 
statute, establishing the Fugitive Slave Bill as a 
shibboleth, a large portion of the honest citizens 
are excluded from voting for the Legislature, 
while, by another statute, all who present them- 
selves with a fee of one dollar, whether from Mis- 
souri or not, and who can utter this shibboleth, are 
entitled to vote. And it is a Legislature thus 
chosen, under the auspices of officers appointed 
by the Usurpation, that you now propose to invest 
with parental powers to rear the Territory into a 



HON. CHARLES SUMNEE. 259 

State. You recognize and confirm the Usurpation, 
which you ought to annul without delay. You 
put the infant State, now pre2:)aiing to take a place 
in our sisterhood, to suckle with the wolf, which 
you ought at once to kill. The improbable story 
of Baron Munchausen is verified. The bear, 
which thrust itself into the harness of the horse it 
had devoured, and then whirled the sledge accord- 
ing to mere brutal bent, is recognized by this Bill, 
and kept in its usurped place, when the safety of 
all requires that it should be shot. 

In characterizing this Bill as the Remedy of 
Injustice and Civil War, I give it a plain, self- 
evident title. It is a continuation of the Crime 
against Kansas, and, as such, deserves the same 
condemnation. It can only be defended by those 
who defend the Crime. Sir, you cannot expect 
that the people of Kansas will submit to the usur- 
pation which this Bill sets up, and bids them bow 
before — as the Austrian tyrant set up his cap in 
the Swiss market-place. If you madly persevere, 
Kansas will not be without her William Tell, who 
will refuse at all hazards to recognize the tyranni- 
cal edict; and this will be the beginning of civil 
war. 

Next, and lastly, comes the Remedy of Justice 
and Peace^ proposed by the senator from New 
York [Mr. Seward], and embodied in his Bill for 



260 SPEECH OF 

the immediate admission of Kansas as a State of 
this Union, now pendino; as a substitute for the 
Bill of the senator frum lllini is. This is sn-tained 
by the prayer of the people of the Territory, set- 
ting forth a constitution formed by a spontaneous 
movement, in which all there had opportunity to 
participate, without distinction of party. Karely 
has any proposition, so simple in character, so en 
tirely practicable, so absolutely within your power, 
been presented, which promised at once such be- 
neficent results. In its adoption, the Crime against 
Kansas will be all happily absolved, the Usui'pa- 
tion which it established will be peacefully sup- 
pressed, and order will be permanently secured. 
By a joyful metamorphosis, this fair Territory may 
be saved from outrage. 



" 0, help," she cries, " in this extremest need, 
If you wiio liear are Deities indeed ! 
Gape, earth, and malce for this dread foe a tomb, 
Or change my form, whence all my sorrows come .'" 



In offering this pi'oposition, the senator from 
New York has entitled himself to the gratitude of 
the country. Pie has, throughout a life of unsur- 
passed industiT, and of eminent ability, dt)ne much 
for Freedom, which the woi'ld will not let die; 
but he has done nothing more opportune than this, 
and he has uttered no words more effective than 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 261 

the speech, so masterly and ingenious, by which he 
has vindicated it. 

Kansas now presents herself for admission with 
a constitution republican in form. And, inde- 
pendent of the great necessity of the case, three 
considerations of fact concur in commending her. 
First. She thus testifies her willingness to relieve 
the Federal Government of the considerable pecu- 
niary responsibility to which it is now exposed on 
account of the pretended Territorial government. 
Secondly. She has, by her recent conduct, partic- 
ularly in repelling the invasion at Wacherusa, 
evinced an ability to defend her Government. 
And, thirdly, by the pecuniary credit which she 
now enjoys she shows an undoubted ability to 
support it. "What now can stand in her way ? 

The power of Congress to admit Kansas at once 
is explicit. It is found in a single clause of the 
constitution, which, standing by itself, without any 
qualification applicable to the present case, and 
without doubtful words, requires no commentary. 
Here it is : 



" New States may be atlinitted by Congress into this Union; 
but no new State shall be fotined or erected within the Juris- 
diction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the 
junction of two or more States or parts of States, without the 
consent of the Legislatures of the States coucerned, as well as 
of the Congress." 



SPEECH OF 

New States mat be admitted. Out of that little 
word may comes tlie power, broadly and fully, — 
without any limitation founded on population or 
preliminary forms, — provided the State is not 
within the jurisdiction of another State, nor formed 
by the junction of two or more States, or parts of 
States, without the consent of the Legislatures of 
the States. Kansas is not within the legal juris- 
diction of another State, although the laws of Mis- 
souri have been tj^rannically extended over her ; 
nor is Kansas formed by the junction of two or 
more States ; and, therefore, Kansas may be ad- 
mitted by Congress into the Union, without regard 
to population or preliminary forms. You cannot 
deny the power, without obliterating this clause of 
the constitution. The senator from New York was 
right in rejecting all appeal to precedents, as en- 
tirely irrelevant ; for the power invoked is clear 
and express in the constitution, which is above all 
precedent. But, since precedent has been enlist- 
ed, let us look at precedent. 

It is objected that the jpopulation of Kansas is 
not sufficient for a State ; and this objection is 
sustained by under-reckoning the numbers there, 
and exaggerating the numbers required by prece- 
dent. In the absence of any recent census, it is 
impossible to do more than approximate to the 
actual population ; but, from careful inquiry of 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 263 

the best sources, I am led to jtlace it now at fifty 
thousand, though I observe that a prudent author- 
ity, the Boston Daily Advertiser^ puts it as high 
as sixty thousand, and, while I speak, this remark- 
able population, fed by fresh emigration, is out- 
stripping even these calculations. Xor can there 
be a doubt that, before the assent of Congress can 
be perfected in the ordinary course of legislation, 
this population will swell to the large number of 
ninety-three thousand four hundred and twenty, 
required in the Bill of the senator from Illinois. 
But^ in mahing this numher the condition of the 
admission of Kansas^ you set up an extraordinary 
standard. There is nothing out of which it can be 
derived, from the beginning to the end of the 
precedents. Going back to the days of the Con- 
tinental Congress, 3'ou will find that, in 1784, it 
was declared that twenty thousand freemen in a 
Territory might " establish a j^ermanent Constitu- 
tion and Government for themselves" {Journals 
of Congress., vol. iv., p. 379) ; and, though this num- 
ber was afterwards, in the Ordinance of 1787 for 
the Northwestern Territory, raised to sixty thou- 
sand, yet the power was left in Congress, and sub- 
sequently exercised in more than one instance, to 
constitute a State with a smaller number. Out of 
all the new States, only Maine, Wisconsin, and 
Texas, contained, at the time of their admission 



264 SPEECHOF 

into the Union, so large a population as it is pro- 
posed to require in Kansas ; while no less than 
fourteen new States have been admitted with a 
smaller population ; as will appear in the follow- 
ing list, which is the result of research, showing 
the number of " free inhabitants" in these States at 
the time of the proceedings which ended in their 
admission : 

Vermont 85,416 

Kentucky 61,103 

Tennessee . . - . . 66,649 

Ohio 50,000 

Louisiana 41,890 

Indiana 60,000 

Mississippi 35,000 

Alabama 50,000 

Illinois 45,000 

Missouri 56,586 

Arkansas 41,000 

Michigan 92,673 

Florida 27,091 

Iowa 81,921 

, ^ California 92,597 

But this is not all. At the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution, there were three of the old 
thirteen States whose respective populations did 
not reach the amount now required for Kansas. 
These were Delaware, with a population of 50,096 ; 
Rhode Island, with a population of 64,689 ; and 
Georgia, with a population of 82,548. And even 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 265 

now, while I speak, there are at least two States, 
with senators on this floor, which, according to 
the last census, do not contain the population now 
required of Kansas. I refer to Delaware, with a 
population of 91,635, and Florida, with a popula- 
tion of freemen amounting only to 47,203. So 
much for precedents of population. 

But, in sustaining this objection, it is not un- 
ci>mm(»n to depart from the strict rule of numerical 
precedent, by suggesting that the population re- 
quired in a new State has always been, in point of 
fact, above the existing ratio of representation for 
a member of the House of Representatives. But 
this is not true ; for at least one State, Florida, 
was admitted with a population below this ratio, 
which at the time was 70,680. So much, agi'.n, 
for precedents. But, even if this coincidence were 
complete, it would be impossible to prcos it into a 
binding precedent. 

The rule seems reasonable, and, in ordinary 
cases, would not be questioned ; but it cannot be 
drawn or implied from the constitution. Besides, 
this ratio is, in itself, a sliding scale. At first it 
was 33,000; and this continued till 1811, when it 
was put at 35,000. In 1822, it was 40,000; in 
1832, it was 47,700 ; in 1842, it was 70,680 ; and 
now, it is 93,420. If any ratio is to be made the 
foundation of a binding rule, it should be that 

23 



266 SPEECHOF 

which preTailed at the adoption of the constitu- 
tion, and which still continued, when Kansas, as a 
part of Louisiana, w^as acquired from France, under 
solemn stipulation that it should " be incorporated 
into the Union of the United States as soon as may 
be consistent with the principles of the Federal 
Constitution." But this whole objection is met by 
the memorial of the people of Florida, which, if 
good for that State, is also good for Kansas. Here 
is a passage : 

''But the people of Florida respectfully insist that their 
right to be admitted into the Federal Union as a State is not 
dependent upon the fact of their having a population equal 
to such ratio. Their right to admission, it is conceived, is 
guaranteed by the express pledge in the sixth article of the 
treaty before quoted ; and if any rule as to the number of 
the population is to govern, it should be that in existence at 
the time of the cession, which was thirty-five thousand. 
They submit, however, that any ratio of representiition de- 
pendent upon legislative action, based solely on convenience 
and expediency, shifting and vacillating as the opinion of a 
majority of Congress may make it, now greater than at a 
previous apportionment, but which a future Congress may 
prescribe to be less, cannot be one of the constitutional 
*■ PKiNOiPLEs' referred to in the treaty, consistency with 
which, by its terms, is required. It is, in truth, but a mere 
regulation, not founded on principle. No specified number 
of population is required by any recognized principle as ne- 
cessary in the establishment of a free Government. 

"It is in no wise '■ incomisteiit with the princijAes of the 
Federal Constitution^' that the population of a State should 
be less tlian the ratio of Congressional representation. The 
very cast; is provided for in the constitution. With such 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 207 

deficient population, she would be entitled to one Represen- 
tative. If any event should cause a decrease of the popula- 
tion of one of the States even to a number below the mini- 
mum ratio of representation prescribed by the constitution, 
she would still remain a member of the Confederacy, and be 
entitled to such Representative. It is respectfully urged, 
that a rule or principle which would not justify the expul- 
sion of a State with a deficient population, on the ground of 
inconsistency with the constitution, should not exclude or 
prohibit admission:''— {Exec. Doc.., 'ilth Congr.., Id sess., 
Vol. 4, No. 206.) 

Thus, sir, do the people of Florida plead for the 
people of Kansas. 

Distrusting the objection from inadequacy of 
population, it is said that the proceedings for the 
formation of a new State are fatally defective in 
form. It is not asserted that a previous enabling 
act of Congress is indispensable ; for there are no- 
torious precedents the other way, among which 
are Kentucky in 1791, Tennessee in 1796, Maine 
in 1820, and Arkansas and Michigan in 1836. 
But it is urged that in no instance has a State been 
admitted whose constitution was formed without 
such enabling act, or without the authority of the 
Territorial Legislature. This is not true; for Cali- 
fornia came into the Union with a constitution, 
formed not only without any previous enabling 
act, but also without any sanction from a Terri- 
torial Legislature. The proceedings which ended 
in this constitution were initiated by the military 



268 SPEECH OF 

Governor there, acting under the exigency of the 
hour. This instance may not be identical in all 
respects with that of Kansas ; but it displaces com- 
pletely one of the assumptions which Kansas now 
encounters, and it also shows completely the dis- 
position to relax all rule, under the exigency of the 
liour, in order to do substantial justice. 

But there is a memorable instance, which con- 
tains in itself every element of irregularity which 
you denounce in the proceedings of Kansas. 
Michigan, now cherished with such pride as a 
sister State, achieved admission into the Union in 
persistent defiance of all rule. Do you ask for 
precedents? Here is a precedent for the largest 
latitude, which you, who profess a deference to 
precedent, cannot disown. Mark now the stages 
of this case. The first proceedings of Michigan 
were without any previous enabling act of Con- 
gress ; and she presented herself at your door with 
a constitution thus formed, and with senators cho- 
sen under that constitution, precisely as Kansas 
now. This was in December, 1835, while Andrew 
Jackson was President. By the leaders of the 
Democracy at that time, all objection for alleged 
defects of furm were scouted, and language was 
employed which is strictly applicable to Kansas. 
There is nothing new under the sun ; and the very 
objection of the President, that the application of 



. HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 269 

Kansas proceeds from "persons acting against au- 
tliorities duly constituted by act of Congress," was 
hurled against tlie application of Michigan, in de- 
bate on this floor, by Mr.'IIendricks, of Indiana. 
This was his language : 

" But the people of Michigan, in presenting their Senate 
and House of Representatives as the legislative power existing 
there, showed that they had tramfled upon and violated the 
laws of the United States estahlishing a Territorial Govern- 
ment in Michigan. These laws were, or ought to be, in full 
force there; but, by the character and position assumed, 
they had set up a Government antagonist to that of the Uni- 
ted States:'— (_Congress. Dei., Vol. 12, p. 288, 24^/t Cong., 1st 
session.) 

To this impeachment, Mr. Benton replied in 
these effective words : 

" Conventions were original acts of the people. They de- 
pended upon inherent and inalienable rights. The people of 
any State may at any time meet in Convention, without a 
law of their Legislature, and without any provision or against 
any provision in their constitution, and may alter or abolish 
the whole frame of Government, as they please. The sover- 
eign power to govern themselves was in the majority, and 
they could not be divested of it." — {Ibid.,, p. 1030.) 

Mr. Buchanan vied with Mr. Benton in vindi- 
cating the new State : 

" The precedent in the case of Tennessee has completely 
silenced all opposition in regard to the necessity of a previous 
act of Congress to enable the people of Michigan to form a 
23* 



2T0 SPEECHOF 

State Constitution. It now seems to be conceded that our 
subsequent approbation is equivalent to our previous action. 
Tliis can no longer be doubted. We have the unquestionalle 
power of waiving any irregularities in the viode of framing 
the comtitution, had any s%ch existed^ — (Hid., p. 1041.) 

"He did hope that by this bill all objections would be re- 
moved ; and that this State, so ready to rush into our arms, 
would not be repulsed, hecause of the absence of some formal- 
ities which perhaps were very proper, hut certainly not indis- 
pensabley — {Ibid., p. 1015.) 

After an animated contest in the Senate, the 
Bill for the admission of Michigan, on her assent 
to certain conditions, was j)assed, hj twenty-three 
yeas to eight nays. But yon find weight, as well 
as numbers, on the side of the new State. Among 
the yeas were Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri, 
James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Silas AVright, 
of New Yurk, W. R. King, of Alabama. — {Cong. 
Globe, Yol. 3d, p. 276, \st session 2Uh Cong.) 
Subsequently, on motion of Mr. Buchanan, the 
two gentlemen sent as senators by the new State 
received the regular compensation for attendance 
throughout the very session in which their seats had 
been so acrimoniously assailed. — {Unci., p. 418.) 

In the House of Ilepresentatives the application 
was equally successful. The Committee on the 
Judiciary, in an elaborate report, reviewed the 
objections, and, among other things, said : 

" That the people of Michigan have without due authority 
formed a State Government, but, nevertheless, that Congress 



HON. CHARLES SUMXER. 271 

Tim fouer to waite any objectio?i icJiich migJU, oii that ac- 
count^ he entertained to the ratification of the constitution 
wliich they have adopted, and to admit their Senators and 
Representatives to take their seats in the Congress of the 
United States." — {Exec. Doc, 1st sess. 24fA Cong., Vol. 2, 
No. 380.) 

The House sustained this view by a vote of one 
hundred and fifty-three yeas to forty-five nays. In 
this large majority, by which the title of Michigan 
was then recognized, will be found the name of 
Franklin Pierce, at that time a Representative 
from New Hampshire. 

But the case was not ended. The fiercest trial 
and the greatest irregularity remained. The act 
providing for the admission of the new State con- 
tained a modification of its boimdaries, and pro- 
ceeded to require, as a fundamental condition, 
that these should " receive the assent of a Con- 
vention of delegates, elected by the people of the 
said State, for the sole purpose of giving the assent 
herein required." — {Statutes at Large, Yol. 5, p. 
50, Act of June S^A, 1836.) Such a Convention, 
duly elected under a call from the Legislature, 
met in pursuance uf law, and, after consideration, 
declined to come into the Union on the condition 
proposed. But the action of this Convention was 
not universally satisfactory, and, in order to efi'ect 
an admission into the Union, another Convention 
was called professedly by the people, in their 



272 SPEECH OF 

sovereign capacity, without any authority from 
State or Territorial Legislature ; nay, sir, accord- 
ing to the language of the present President, 
"against authorities duly constituted by Act of 
Cono-ress ;" at least, as much as the recent Con- 
vention in Kansas. The irregularity of this Con- 
vention was increased by the circumstance that 
two of the oldest counties of the State, comprising 
a population of some twenty-five thousand souls, 
refused to take any part in it, even to the extent 
of not opening the polls for the election of dele- 
gates, claiming that it was held without warrant 
of law, and in defiance of the legal Convention. 
This popular Convention, though wanting a popu- 
lar sujjport coextensive with the State, yet pro- 
ceeded, by formal act, to give the assent of the 
people of Michigan to the fundamental condition 
proposed by Congress. 

The proceedings of the two Conventions were 
transmitted to President Jackson, .who, by mes- 
sage, dated 2Ttli December, 1836, laid them both 
before Congress, indicating veiy clearly his desire 
to ascertain the will of the people, without regard 
to form. The origin of the j^opular Convention 
he thus describes : 

" This Convention was not held or elected by virtue of 
any act of the Territorial or State Legislature. It originated 
from the People themselves, and was chosen by them in 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 273 

pursuance of resolutions adopted in primary assemblies held 
in the respective counties." — {Sen. Doc.., Id se.ss. 2it7i Cong.., 
Vol. 1, No. 36.) 

And he then dechires that, had these proceedings 
come to him dm-ing the recess of Congress, he 
shouhl have felt it his duty, on being satisfied 
that they emanated from a Convention of delegates 
elected in point of fact hy the people of the State^ 
to issue his proclamation for the admission of the 
State. 

The Committee on the Judiciary in the Senate, 
of which Felix Grundy was Chairman, after in- 
quiry, recognized the competency of the popular 
Convention, as " elected by the people of the State 
of Michigan," and reported a Bill, responsive to 
their assent of the proposed condition, for the ad- 
mission of the State without further condition. — 
{Statutes at Zarge, Yol. 5, p. 144, Act of 26th 
t/an., 1837.) Then, sir, appeared the very objec- 
tions which are now directed against Kansas. It 
was complained that the movement for immediate 
admission was the work of " a minority," and that 
" a great majority of the State feel otherwise." — 
{Se7i. Doc, 2d sess. 2Uh Cong., Yol. 1, No. 37.) 
And a leading senator, of great ability and integ- 
rity, Mr. EwiNG, of Ohio, broke forth in a cate- 
chism which would do for the present hour. He 
exclaimed : 



274: SPEECH OF 

" What evidence had the Senate of the organization of the 
Convention ? of the organization of the popular assemblies 
wlio appointed their delegates to that Convention ? None 
on earth. Who they were that met and voted, we had no 
information. Who gave the notice ? And for what did the 
people receive the notice? To meet and elect ? What evi- 
dence was there that the Convention acted according to law? 
Were the delegates sworn ? And if so, they were extra- 
judical oaths, and not binding upon them. Were the votes 
counted? In fact, it was not a proceeding under the forms 
of law, for they were totally disregarded." — {Cojig. Globe^ 
Vol. 4, p. 60, M sess., '2Uh Cong.) 

And the same able senator, on another occasion, 
after exposing the imperfect evidence with regard 
to the action of the Convention, existing only in 
letters, and in an article from a Detroit newspaper, 
again exclaimed : 

" This, sir, is the evidence to support an organic law of a 
new State about to enter into the Union ! Yes, of an or- 
ganic law, the very highest act a community of men can 
perform. Letters referring to other letters, and a scrap of 
a newspaper." — {Cong. Delates., Vol. 13, Part I., p. 233.) 

It was Mr. Calhoun, however, who pressed the 
opposition with the most persevering intensity. In 
his sight, the admission of Michigan, under the 
circumstances, " would he the most monstrous pro- 
ceeding under our constitution that can be con- 
ceived, the most repugnant to its principles, and 
dangerous in its consequences." — {Co-ng. Debates^ 
Vol. 13, p. 210.) " There is not," he exclaimed, 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 275 

" one particle of ofBcial evidence before us. We 
have nothing but the private letters of individuals, 
who do not know even the numbers that voted on 
either occasion. They know nothing of tlie quali- 
fications of voters, nor how their votes were re- 
ceived, nor by whom counted." — {Ihid.) And he 
proceeded to characterize the popular Convention 
as " not onh' a party caucus, for party purpose, 
but a criminal meeting, — a meeting to subvert the 
authorit}^ of the State, and to assume its sovereign- 
ty ;" adding, " that the actoi'S in that meeting might 
be indicted, tried, and punished ;" and he express- 
ed astonishment that " a self-created meeting, con- 
vened for a criminal object, had dared to present 
to this Government an act of theirs, and to expect 
that we are to receive this irregular and criminal 
act as a fulfilment of the condition which we had 
presented for the admission of the State !" — {Ihid.^ 
p. 299.) Ko stronger words have been employed 
against Kansas. 

But the single question on which all the pro- 
ceedings then hinged, and which is as pertinent 
in the case of Kansas as in the case of Michigan, 
was thus put by Mr. Morris, of Oliio {Ihid.^ p. 
215): " Will Congress recognize as valid^ consti- 
tutional^ and obligatory^ without the color of a, 
law of Michigan to sustain it^ an act done hy the 
People of that State in their 'primary assemblies^ 



276 SPEECH OF 

a)id acknowledge that act as obligatory on the 
constituted authot'ities and Legislature of the 
StateP' 

This question, thus distinctly presented, was an- 
swered in debate by able Senators, among whom 
were Mr. Benton and Mr. King. But there was 
one j)erson, who has since enjoyed much public 
confidence, and has left many memorials of an in- 
dustrious career in the Senate and in diplomatic 
life, James Buchanan, who rendered himself con- 
spicuous by the ability and ardor with which, 
against all assaults, he upheld the cause of the 
popular Convention, — which was so strongly de- 
nounced, — and the entire conformity of its pro- 
ceedings with tlie genius of American Institutions. 
His sijeeches on that occasion contain an unan- 
swerable argument, at all points, mutato nomine., 
for the immediate admission of Kansas under her 
present constitution ; nor is there any thing by 
which he is now distinguished that will redound 
so truly to his fame, if he only continues true to 
them. But the question was emphatically answer- 
ed in the Senate by the final vote on the passage 
of the Bill, where we find twenty-five yeas to only 
ten nays. In the House of Representatives, after 
debate, the question was answered in the same 
way, by a vote of one hundred and forty-eight 
yeas to fifty-eight nays ; and among the yeas is 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 271 

again the name of Fkanklin Pieece, a Represen- 
tative from New Hampshire. 

Thus, in that day, by such triumphant votes, did 
the cause of Kansas prevail in the name of Michi- 
gan. A popuhir Convention, called absolutely 
without authority, and containing delegates from 
a portion only of her population, — called, too, in 
opposition to constituted authorities, and in dero- 
gation of another Convention assembled under the 
forms of law, — stigmatized as a caucus and a crim- 
inal meeting, whose authors were liable to in- 
dictment, trial, and punishment, — was, after ample 
debate, recognized by Congress as valid ; and 
Michigan now holds her place in the Uniou, and 
her senators sit on this floor, by virtue of that act. 
Sir, if Michigan is legitimate, Kansas cannot be 
illegitimate. You bastardize Michigan when you 
refuse to recognize Kansas. 

Again, I say, do you require a precedent? I 
give it to you. But I will not stake this cause on 
any precedent. I plant it firmly on the funda- 
mental principle of American Institutions, as em- 
bodied in the Declaration of Independence, by 
which Government is recognized as deriving its 
just powers onlyj^rom the consent of the governed^ 
who may alter or abolish it when it becomes de- 
structive of their rights. In the debate on the 
Nebraska Bill, at the overthrow of the Prohibition 

24 



278 SPEECH OF 

of Slavery, the Declaration of Independence was 
denounced as a " self-evident lie." It is only by 
a similar audacity that the fundamental principle 
which sustains the proceedings in Kansas can be 
assailed. Nay, more : you must disown the Dec- 
laration of Independence, and adopt the Circular 
of the Holy Alliance, which declares that " useful 
and necessary changes in legislation and in the 
administration of States ought only to emanate 
from the free will and the intelligent and well- 
weighed conviction of those whom God has render- 
ed responsible for power y Face to face, I put the 
principle of the Declaration of Independence and 
the principle of the Holy Alliance, and bid them 
grapple ! " The one places the remedy in the 
hands which feel the disorder ; the other places 
the remedy in the hands which ca%ise the dis- 
order;" and when I thus truthfully characterize 
tliem, I but adopt a sententious phrase from the 
Debates in the Yirginia Convention on the adop- 
tion of the Federal Constitution.— (3 Elliot's De- 
lates, 107: Mr. CorUn) And now^ these two 
principles, embodied in the rival propositions of 
the senator from New Yoi'k and the senator from 
Illinois, must grapple on this floor. 

Statesmen and judges, publicists and authors, 
with names of authority in American history, 
espouse and vindicate the American principle. 



HON, CHARLES SUMNER. 279 

Hand in hand, they now stand around Kansas, and 
feel this new State lean on them for support. Of 
these I content myself with adducing two only, 
both from slave-holding Virginia, in days when 
Human Rights were not without support in that 
State. Listen to the language of St. George 
Tucker, the distinguished commentator upon 
Blackstone, uttered from the bench in a judicial 
opinion : 

" The power of convening the legal Assemhlies, or the or- 
dinary constitutional Legislature, resided solely in the Ex- 
ecutive. They could neither be chosen without writs issued 
by its authority, nor assemble, when chosen, but under the 
same authority. The Conventions, on the contrary, were 
chosen and assembled, either in pursuance of recommehda- 
tions from Congress, or from their own bodies, or ly the 
discretion and common consent of the people. They were 
held even whilst a legal Assembly existed. Witness the 
Convention held at Richmond in Marcli, 1775, after which 
period the legal constitutional Assembly was convened in 
Williamsbnrgh, by the Governor, Lord Dunmore. * * * 
Yet a constitutional dependence on the British Government 
was never denied until the succeeding May. * * The Con- 
vention, then, was not the ordinary Legislature of Virginia. 
It was the body of the people, impelled to assemble from a 
sense of common danger, consulting for the common good, 
and acting in all things for the common safety." — (1 Virginia 
Cases, 70, 71, Kamper vs. Hawkins.) 

Listen, also, to the language of James Madison : 

"That in all great changes of established government, 
forms ought to give way to substance ; that a rigid inhe- 
rence in such cases to the forms would render nominal and 



280 SPEECH OF 

nugatory the transcendent and precious right of the people 
' to abolish or alter their Government, as to them shall seem 
most likely to eftect their safety and happiness.' * * Nor 
can it have been forgotten that no little^ ill-timed scniples, 
no zeal for adhering to ordinary forms^ were anywhere seen, 
except in those who icished to indulge, under these masks, 
their secret enmity to the substaiice contended for.'''' — {The 
Federalist, No. 40.) 

Proceedings thus sustained I am unwilling to 
call revolutionary.^ although this term has the 
sanction of the senator from ]^ew York. They 
are founded on an un(|uestionable American right, 
declared with Independence, confirmed by the 
blood of the fathers, and expounded by patriots, 
which cannot be imjDeached without impairing 
the liberties of all. On this head the language of 
Mr. Buchanan, in reply to Mr. Calhoun, is explicit : 

'' Does the senator [Mr. Calhoun] contend, then, that if, 
in one of the States of this Union, the Government be so 
organized as to utterly destroy the right of equal represen- 
tation, there is no mode of obtaining redress but by an act 
of the Legislature authorizing a Convention, or by open 
rebellion ? Must the people step at once from oppression to 
open war ? Must it be either absolute siibmission, or abso- 
lute i-evolution ? Is there no middle course ? I cannot agree 
with the senator. 1 say that the whole history of our Gov- 
ernment establishes the principle that the people are sove- 
reign, and that a majority of theni can alter or cliange their 
fundamental laws at pleasure. I deny that this is either re- 
hellion or rcr.olution. It is an essential and a recognized 
principle in all our forms of government.'''' — {Congress. Deb., 
Vol. 13, p. 313, 24th Cong., 2d session.) 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 281 

Surely, sir, if ever there was occasion for the 
exercise of this right, the time had come in 
Kansas. The people there had been subjugated 
b}^ a horde of foreign invaders, and brought under 
a tyrannical code of revolting barbarity, while 
property and life among them were left exposed 
to audacious assaults which flaunted at noonday, 
and to reptile abuses which crawled in the dark- 
ness of night. Self-defence is thefrst law of na- 
ture ,' and unless this law is temporarily silenced, 
— as all other law has been silenced there, — you 
cannot condemn the proceedings in Kansas. Here, 
sir, is an unquestionable authority, in itself an 
overwhelming law, which belongs to all countries 
and times; which is the same in Kansas as at 
Athens and Rome ; which is now, and will be 
liereafter, as it was in other days ; in presence of 
which Acts of Congress and Constitutions are 
powerless as the voice of man against the thunder 
which rolls through the sky ; which whispers it- 
self coeval with life ; whose very breath is life 
itself; and now, in the last resort, do I place all 
these proceedings under this supreme safeguard, 
which you will assail in vain. Any opposition 
must be founded on a fundamental perversion of 
facts, or a perversion of fundamental principles, 
which no speeches can uphold, though surpassing 
in immbers the nine hundred thousand piles driven 

24* 



282 SPEECH OF 

into the mud in order to sustain the Dutch Stadt- 
house at Amsterdam ! 

Thus, on every ground of precedent, whether as 
regards popuhition or forms of proceeding ; also, 
on tlie vital principle of American Institutions ; 
and, lastly, on the absolute law of self-defence, do 
I now invoke the power of Congress to admit 
Kansas at once and without hesitation into the 
Union. " New States may be admitted by the 
Congress into the Union ;" such are the words of 
the Constitution. If you hesitate for want of pre- 
cedent, then do I appeal to the great principle of 
American Institutions. If, forgetting the origin 
of the Eepublic, you turn away from this princi- 
ple, then, in the name of human nature, trampled 
down and oppressed, but aroused to a just self- 
defence, do I plead for the exercise of this power. 
Do not hearken, I pray you, to the propositions of 
Tyranny and Folly ; do not be ensnared by that 
other proposition of the senator from Illinois [Mr. 
Douglas], in which is the horrid root of Injustice 
and Civil War. But apply gladly, and at once, 
the True Remedy, wherein are Justice and Peace. 

Mr. President, an immense space has been trav- 
ersed, and I now stand at the goal. The argument 
in its various jjarts is here closed. The Crime 
against Kansas has been displayed in its origin 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 283 

and extent, beginning witli the overthrow of the 
Prohi])ition of Slavery ; next cropping out in con- 
spiracy on the borders of Missom-i ; then hardening 
into a continuity of outrage, through organized in- 
vasions and niisceUaneous assaults, in wliich all 
security was destroyed, and ending at last in the 
perfect subjugation of a generous people to an un- 
precedented Usurpation. Turning aghast from the 
Crime, which, like murder, seemed to confess it- 
self " with most miraculous organ," we have looked 
with mingled shame and indignation upon the four 
Apologies, whether of Tyranny, Imbecility, Absur- 
dity, or Infamy, in which it has been wrapped, 
marking especially the false testimony, congenial 
with the orio-inal Crime, ao;ainst the Emio-rant Aid 
Company. Then were noted, in succession, the 
four Remedies, whether of Tyranny, Folly, Injus- 
tice and Civil War, or Justice and Peace ; wliich 
last bids Kansas, in conformity with past prece- 
dents and under the exigencies of the hour, in or- 
der to redeem her from Usui-pation, to take a place 
as a sovereign State of the Union ; and this is the 
True Remedy. If in this argument I have not un- 
worthily vindicated Truth, then have I spoken ac- 
cording to my desires ; if imperfectly, then only 
according to my powers. But there are other 
things, not belonging to the argument, which still 
press for utterance. 



284 SPEECH or 

Sir, the people of Kansas, bone of jonr bone and 
flesh of 3'our flesh, with the education of freemen 
and the rights of American citizens, now stand at 
your door. Will you send them aAvay, or bid them 
enter? Will you push them back to renew their 
struggles with a deadly foe, or will you j^reserve 
them in security and peace ? Will you cast them 
again into the den of Tyranny, or will you help 
their despairing efibrts to escape ? These questions 
I put ^ath no common solicitude ; for I feel that 
on their just determination depend all the most 
precious intei*ests of the Republic ; and I perceive 
too clearly the prejudices in the way, and the ac- 
cumulating bitterness against this distant people, 
now claiming their simple birthright, while I am 
bowed with mortification, as I recognize the Pres- 
ident of the United States, who should have been 
a staff' to the weak and a shield to the innocent, at 
the head of this strange oppression. 

At every stage, the similitude between the 
wrongs of Kansas and those other wrongs against 
which our Fathere rose becomes more apparent. 
Read the Declaration of Independence, and there 
is hardly an accusation which is there directed 
against the British Monarch, which may not now 
be directed with increased force against the Amer- 
ican President. The parallel has a fearful partic- 
ularity. Our Fathers complained that the king 



HOX. CHARLES SUMNER. 285 

had " sent hither swarms of officers, to harass our 
peoj)le and eat out their substance ;" that he " had 
combined with others to subject iis to a jurisdic- 
tion foreign to our constitution, giving his assent 
to their acts of pretended legislation j''"' that "he 
had abdicated government here, by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us^''"' 
that " he had excited domestic insurrection among 
us, and endeavored to hring on the inhabitants 
of our frontier the merciless savages f that "our 
repeated petitions have been answered only by 
repeated injury." xVnd this arraignment was aptly 
followed by the damning words, that " a Prince, 
whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a 
free people." And surely, a President who has 
done all these things cannot be less unfit than 
a Prince. At every stage, the responsibility is 
brought directly to him. His offence has been 
both of c<»mmission and omission. Pie has done 
that which he ought not to have done, and he has 
left undone that which he ought to have done. 
By his activity, the Prohibition of Slavery was 
overturned. By his failure to act, the honest emi- 
grants in Kansas have been left a prey to wrong of 
all kinds. Nullum Jlagitium extitit, nisi per te; 
nullum flagitium sine te. And now he stands 



286 SPEECH OF 

forth the most conspicuous euemy cf that unhappy 
Territory. 

As the tyranny of the British King is all renew- 
ed in the President, so on this floor have the old 
indignities been renewed "which embittered and 
fomented the troubles of our Fathers. The early 
petition of the American Congress to Parliament, 
long before any suggestion of Independence, was 
opposed — like the petitions of Kansas — because 
that body " was assembled without any requisition 
on the part of the Supreme Power." Another 
petition from New York, presented by Edmund 
Burke, was flatly rejected, as claiming riglits de- 
rogatory to Parliament. And still another petition 
from Massachusetts Bay was dismissed as " vexa- 
tious and scandalous," while the j)iitriot philos- 
opher who bore it was exposed to peculiar con- 
tumely. Throughout the debates, our Fathers 
were made the butt of sorry jests and supercilious 
assumptions. And now these scenes, with these 
precise objections, have been renewed in the Amer- 
ican Senate. 

With regret, I come again upon the senator 
from South Carolina [Mr. Butler], who, omni- 
present in this debate, overflowed with rage at the 
simple suggestion that Kansas had applied for ad- 
mission as a State ; and, with incoherent phrases, 
discharged the loose expectoration of his speech, 



HON. CHAELES SUMNER. 287 

now upon her representative, and then npon her 
people. There was no extravagance of the ancient 
Parliamentary debate which he did not repeat; 
nor was there any possible deviation from truth 
which he did not make, with so much of passion, 
I am glad to add, as to save him from the suspicion 
of intentional aberration. But the senator touches 
notliing that he does not disfigure — with error, 
sometimes of principle, sometimes of fact. He 
shows an incapacity of accuracy, whether in sta- 
ting the constitution or in stating the law, whether 
in the details of statistics or the diversions of 
scholarship. He cannot ope his mouth, but out 
there flies a blunder. Sm-ely he ought to be fami- 
liar with the life of Franklin ; and yet he referred 
to this household character, while acting as agent 
of our Fathers in England, as above suspicion ; 
and this was done that he might give point to a 
false contrast with the agent of Kansas, not know- 
ing that, however they may difler in genius and 
fame, in this experience they are alike : that 
Franklin, when intrusted with the petition of 
Massachusetts Bay, was assaulted by a foul-mouth- 
ed speaker, where he could not be heard in defence, 
and denounced as a " thief," even as the agent of 
Kansas lias been assaulted on this floor, and de- 
nounced as a " forger." And let not the vanity 
of the senator be inspired by the parallel with the 



288 SPEECH OF 

British statesman of that day ; for it is only in 
hostility to Freedom that any parallel can be rec- 
ognized. 

But it is against the people of Kansas that the 
sensibilities of the senator are j)articularly aroused. 
Coming, as he announces, " from a State," — ay, 
sir, from South Carolina, — he turns with lordly 
disgust from this newly-foi-med community, which 
he will not recognize even as " a body politic." 
Pray, sir, by what title does he indulge in this 
egotism ? Has he read the history of " the State" 
which he represents ? He cannot surely have for- 
gotten its shameful imbecility from Slavery, con- 
fessed throughout the Revolution, followed by its 
more shameful assumptions for Slavery since. He 
cannot have forgotten its wretched persistence in 
the slave-trade as the very apple of its eye, and 
the condition of its participation in the Union. He 
cannot have forgotten its constitution, which is re- 
publican only in name, confirming power in the 
hands of the few, and founding the qualifications 
of its legislators on " a settled freehold estate, or 
ten negroes." And yet the senator, to whom that 
" State" has in part committed the guardianship 
of its good name, instead of moving with back- 
ward-treading steps, to cover its nakedness, rushes 
forward, in the very ecstasy of madness, to expose 
'^ ^J provoking a comparison with Kansas. South 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 2S9 

Carolina is old ; Kansas is joung. South Carolina 
counts by centuries, where Kansas counts by years. 
But a beneficent example may be born in a day ; 
and I venture to say, that against the two centu- 
ries of the older " State" may be already set the 
two years of trial, evolving corresponding virtue, 
in the younger community. In the one, is the 
long wail of Slavery ; in the other, the hymns of 
Freedom. And if we glance at special achieve- 
ments, it will be difficult to find any thing in the 
history of South Carolina which presents so much 
of heroic spii'it in an heroic cause as appears in 
that repulse of the Missouri invaders by the be- 
leaguered town of Lawrence, where even the 
women gave their eflfective efforts to Freedom. 
The matrons of Kome, who poured their jc".. x-is 
into the treasury for the public defence; the wives 
of Pi-ussia, who, w'ith delicate fingers, r-1 oihed their 
defenders against French invasion ; the mothers 
of our own Revolution, who sent forth their sons, 
covered over with prayers and blessings, to com- 
bat for human rights, did nothing of self-sacrifice 
truer than did these women on this occasion. Were 
the whole history of South Carolina blotted out of 
existence, from its very beginning down to the 
day of the last election of the senator to his pres- 
ent seat on this fiooi-, civilization might lose — I do 
not say how little ; but surely less than it has 

26 



290 SPEECH OF 

already gained by the example of Kansas, in its 
valiant struggle against oppression, and in the 
development of a new science of emigration. Al- 
ready in Lawrence alone there are newspapers and 
schools, including a High School, and throughout 
this infant Territory there is more of mature 
scholarship, in proportion to its inhabitants, than 
in all South Carolina. Ah, sir, I tell the senator 
that Kansas, welcomed as a free State, will be a. 
" ministering angel" to the Republic, when South 
Carolina, in the cloak of darkness which she hugs, 
" lies howling." 

The senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] natu- 
rally joins the senator from South Carolina in this 
warfare, and gives to it the su2)erior intensity of 
his nature. He thinks that the National Govern- 
ment has not completely proved its power, as it 
has never hanged a traitor ; but if the occasion 
retjuires, he hopes there will be no hesitation ; and 
this threat is directed at Kansas, and even at the 
friends of Kansas throughout the country. Again 
occurs the parallel with the struggles of our Fa- 
thers ; and I borrow the language of Patrick Henry, 
when to the cry from the senator of " treason," 
" treason," I reply, " If this be treason, make the 
most of it." Sir, it is easy to call names ; but I 
beg to tell the senator that if the word " traitor" 
is in any way applicable to those who refuse sub- 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 291 

mission to a tjrannical Usi;rpation, whether in 
Kansas or elsewhere, then must some new word, 
of deeper color, be invented, to designate those 
mad spirits who would endanger and degrade the 
Kepublic, while they betray all the cherished 
sentiments of the Fathers, and the spirit of the 
constitution, in order to give new spread to Slave- 
ry. Let the senator proceed. It will not be the 
first time in history that a scaffold erected for pun- 
ishment has become a pedestal of honor. Out of 
death comes life ; and the " traitor," whom he 
blindly executes, will live innnoi-tal in the cause. 

" For Humanity sweeps onward ; where to-day the martyr stands, 
On the morrow crouches Judas, with the silver in his hands; 
While the hooting mob of yesterday in silent awe return, 
To glean up the scattered ashes into History's golden urn." 

Among these hostile senators, there is yet an- 
other, with all the prejudices of the senator from 
South Carolina, but without his generous impulses, 
who, on account of his character before the coun- 
try, and the rancor of his opposition, deserves to 
be named. I mean the senator from Virginia 
[Mr. Mason], who, as the author of the Fugitive 
Slave Bill, has associated himself with a special 
act of inhumanity and tyranny. Of him 1 shall 
say little, for he has said little in tliis debate, 
though within that little was compressed the bit- 
terness of a life absorbed in the sujjport of Slavery. 



292 SPEECH OF 

He holds the commission of Virginia ; but he does 
not represent that early Virginia, so dear to our 
hearts, which gave to us the pen of Jefferson, by 
which the equality of men was declared, and the 
sword of Washington, by which Independence 
was secured ; but he represents that other Virginia, 
from which Washington and Jefferson now avert 
their faces, where hunum beings are bred as cattle 
for the shambles, and where a dungeon rewards 
the pious matron who teaches little children to re- 
lieve their bondage by reading the Book of Life. 
It is proper that such a senator, representing such 
a State, should rail against Free Kansas. 

But this is not all. The precedent is still more 
clinching. Thus far I have followed exclusively 
the public documents laid before Congress, and 
illustrated by the debates of that body ; but well- 
authenticated facts, not of record here, make the 
case stronger still. It is sometimes said that the 
proceedings in Kansas are defective, because they 
originated in a party. This is not true ; but, even 
if it were true, then would they still find support 
in the example of Michigan, where all the pro- 
ceedings, stretching through successive years, be- 
gan and ended in party. The proposed State 
Government was pressed by the Democrats as a 
Xjai^ty test; and all who did not embark in it 
were denounced. Of the Legislative Council, 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 293 

which called the first Constitutional Convention 
in 1835, all were Democrats; and in the Conven- 
tion itself, composed of eighty-seven members, 
only seven were "Whigs. The Convention of 1836, 
which gave the final assent, originated in a Demo- 
cratic Convention on the 29th October, in the 
County of Wayne, composed of one hundred and 
twenty-four delegates, all Democrats, who pro- 
ceeded to resolve — 

"That tlie delegates of tlie Democratic party of Wayne, 
soleinnly itni)ressed with tlie spreading evils and dangers 
which a refusal to go into the Union has brought upon the 
people of Micliigan, earnestly recommend meetings to be 
immediately convened by their fellow-citizens in every 
County of the State, with a view to the expression of their 
sentiments in favor of the election and call of another Con- 
vention, in time to secure our admission into the Union 
before the tirst of January next." 

Shortly afterwards, a committee of five, ap- 
pointed by this Convention, all leading Demo- 
crats, issued a circular, "under the authority of 
the delegates of the County of Wayne," recom- 
mending that the voters throughout Michigan 
should meet and elect delegates to a Convention 
to give the necessary assent to the Act of Con- 
gress. In pursuance of this call, the Convention 
met; and, as it originated in an exclusively party 
recommendation, so it was of an exclusively party 

25* 



29i SPEECH OF 

character. And it was the action of this Conven- 
tion that was snLmitted to Congress, and, after 
discussion in both bodies, on solemn votes, ap- 
proved. 

But the precedent of Michigan has another fea- 
ture, which is entitled to the gravest attention, 
especially at this moment, when citizens engaged 
in the effort to establish a State Government in 
Kansas are oj)enly arrested on the charge of 
treason, and we are startled by tidings of the 
maddest efforts to press this procedure of pre- 
posterous Tyranny. ISTo such madness prevailed 
under Andrew Jackson ; although, during the 
long pendency of the Michigan proceedings, for 
more than fourteen months, the Territorial Gov- 
ernment was entirely ousted, and the State Gov- 
ernment organized in all its departments. One 
hundred and thirty different legislative acts were 
l^assed, providing for elections, imposing taxes, 
erecting corporations, and establishing courts of 
justice, including a Supreme Court and a Court 
of Chancery. All process was issued in the name 
of the people of the State of Michigan. And yet 
no attemj)t M-as made to question the legal validity 
of these proceedings, whether legislative or judi- 
cial. Least of all did any menial Governor, 
dressed in a little brief authority, play the fan- 
tastic tricks which we now witness in Kansas: 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 295 

nor did any person, wearing the robes of justice, 
shock high Heaven with the niuckeiy of injustice 
now enacted by emissaries of tlie President in 
that Territory. No, sir ; nothing of this kind then 
occurred. Andrew Jackson was President. 

Senators such as these are the natural enemies 
of Kansas ; and I inti-odnce them with reluctance, 
simply that the country may understand the char- 
acter of the hostility which must be overcome. 
Arrayed with them, of course, are all who unite, 
under any pretext or apology, in the propagan- 
dism of Human Slavery. To such, indeed, the 
time-honored safeguards of popular rights can be 
a name only, and nothing more. What are trial 
by jury, habeas corpus, the ballot-box, the right of 
petition, the liberty of Kansas, your liberty, sir, or 
mine, to one who lends himself not merely to the 
supjiort at home, but to the propagandism abroad, 
of that preposterous wrong, which denies even the 
right of a man to himself? Such a cause can be 
maintained only by a practical subversion of all 
rights. It is, therefore, raerel}^ according to reason 
that its partisans should uphold the Usm'pation in 
Kansas. 

To overthrow this Usurpation is now the special, 
importunate duty of Congress, admitting of no hes- 
itation or postjDonement. To this end, it must lift 
itself from the cabals of candidates, the machina- 



296 SPEECH OF 

tions of party, and the low level of vulgar strife. 
It mnst turn from that Slave Oligarchy which now 
controls the Republic, and refuse to be its tool. 
Let its power be stretched forth towards this dis- 
tant Territory, not to bind, but to unbind ; not for 
the opj)ression of the weak, but for the subversion 
of the tyrannical ; not for the prop and mainte- 
nance of a revolting Usurpation, but for the con- 
fimation of Liberty. 

"These are imperial arts, and worthy thee!" 

Let it now take its stand between the living and 
dead, and cause this plague to be stayed. All this 
it can do ; and if the interests of Slavery did not 
oppose, all this it would do at once, in reverent 
regard for justice, law, and order, driving far away 
all the alarms of war ; nor would it dare to brave 
the shame and j)unisliment of this Great Eefusal. 
But the Slave Power dares any thing ; and it can 
be conquered only by the united masses of the 
People. From Congress to the People, I appeal. 
Already Public Opinion gathers unwonted 
forces to scourge the aggressors. In the press, in 
daily conversation, wherever tw^o or three are 
gathered together, there the indignant utterance 
finds vent. And trade, by unerring indications, 
attests the growing energy. Public credit in Mis- 
souri droops. The six per cents of that State, 



HON, CHARLES SUMNER. 297 

which at par should be one hundred and two, 
have sunk to eighty-four and one-fourth — thus at 
once completing the evidence of Crime, and at- 
testing its punishment. Business is now turning 
from the Assassins and Thugs, that infest the Mis- 
souri River on the way to Kansas, to seek some 
safer avenue. And this, though not unimportant 
in itself, is typical of greater changes. The politi- 
cal credit of the men who uphold the Usurpation 
droops even more than the stocks ; and the People 
are turning froin all those through whom tlie As- 
sassins and Thugs have derived their disgraceful 
immunity. 

It was said of old, " Cursed be he that removeth 
his neighbor's Landmark. And all the iieojple 
shall say, Amen.'''' — {Deut. xxvii. 17.) Cursed, it 
is said, in the city, and in the field ; cursed in 
basket and store ; cursed when thou comest in, 
and cursed when thou goest out. Tliese are terri- 
ble imprecations ; but, if ever any Landmark were 
sacred, it was that by which an immense territory 
was guarded forever against Slavery ; and if ever 
such imprecations could justly descend upon any 
one, they must descend now upon all who, not con- 
tent with the removal of this sacred Landmark, 
have since, with criminal complicity, fostered the 
incursions of the great Wrong against which it was 
intended to guard. But I utter no imprecations. 



298 SPEECH OF 

Tliese are not my words ; nor is it my part to add 
to or subtract from them. But, thanks be to God ! 
they find a response in the hearts of an aroused 
People, making them turn from every man, wheth- 
er President, or senator, or representative, who has 
been engaged in this Crime, — especially from those 
who, cradled in free institutions, are without the 
apology of education or social prejudice, — until of 
all such those other words of the prophet shall be 
fulfilled — " I will set my face against that man, 
and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut 
him ofi' from the midst of ni}^ people." — {Ezekiel 
xiv. 8.) Turning thus from the authors of this 
Crime, the People will unite once more with the 
Fathers of the Republic, in a just condemnation of 
Slavery, — determined especially that it shall find 
no home in the National Territories, — while the 
Slave Power, in wliich the crime had its begin- 
ning, and by which it is now sustained, will be 
swept into the charnel-house of defunct Tyran- 
nies. 

Li this contest, Kansas bravely stands forth — 
the stripling leader, clad in the panoply of Ameri- 
can institutions. In calmly meeting and adopting 
a frame of Government, her people have with 
intuitive promptitude performed the duties of 
Freemen ; and when I consider the difficulties by 
which she was beset, I find dignity in her attitude. 



HON. CHARLES SUMNER. 299 

In offering herself for admission into the Union 
as a Free State, she presents a single issue for 
the People to decide. And since the Slave Power 
now stakes on this issue all its ill-gotten suprem- 
acy, the People, Avhile vindicating Kansas, will 
at the same time overthrow this Tyranny. Thus 
does the contest which she now begins involve 
not only Liberty for herself, but for the whole 
country. God be praised, that she did not bend 
ignobly beneath the yoke ! Far away on the 
prairies, she is now battling for the Liberty of all, 
against the President, who misrepresents all. 
Everywhere among those who are not insensible 
to Right the generous struggle meets a generous 
response. From innumerable throbbing hearts go 
forth the very words of encouragement which, in 
the sorrowful days of our Fathers, were sent by 
Virginia, speaking by the pen of Kicliard Henry 
Lee, to Massachusetts, in the person of her popu- 
lar tribune, Samuel Adams : 

''OTiantilly (Fa.), June 23d, 1774. 
" I hope the good people of Boston will not lose their 
spirits under their present heavy oppression, for they will 
certainly be supported by the other Colonies ; and the cause 
for which they suffer is so glorious, and so deeply interesting 
to the present and future generations, that all America will 
owe, in a great measure, their political salvation to the 
present virtue of Massachusetts Bay." — (American Archives, 
4th series, vol. 1, p. 446.) 



300 SPEECH OF 

In all this sympathy there is strength. But in the 
cause itself there is angelic power. Unseen ol 
men, the great spirits of History combat-' by the 
side of the people of Kansas, breathing a divine 
courage, xibove all towers the majestic form of 
Washington, once more, as on the bloody field, 
bidding them to remember those rights of Human 
^Nature for which the War of Independence was 
waged. Such a cause, thus sustained, is invincible. 
The contest, which, beginning in Kansas, has 
reached us, will soon be transferred to a broader 
stage, where every citizen will be not only spec- 
tator, but actor ; and to tlieir judgment I confi- 
dently appeal. To the People, now on the eve of 
exercising the electoral franchise, in choosing a 
Chief Magistrate of the Republic, I appeal, to 
vindicate the electoral franchise in Kansas. Let 
the ballot-box of the Union, with multitudinous 
might, protect the ballot-box in that Territory. 
Let the voters everywhere, while rejoicing in their 
own rights, help to guard the equal rights of dis- 
tant fellow-citizens ; that the shrines of popular 
institutions, now desecrated, may be sanctified 
anew ; that the ballot-box, now plundered, may 
be restored ; and that the cry, " I am an Ameri- 
can citizen," may not be sent forth in vain against 
outrage of every kind. In just regard for free 
labor in that Territory, which it is sought to blast 



HON. CHAKLES SUMNEK. 301 

by unwelcome association with slave labor ; in 
Christian sympathy with the slave, whom it is 
proposed to task and to sell there ; in stern con- 
demnation of the Crime which has been consum- 
mated on that beautiful soil ; in rescue of felluw- 
citizens, now subjugated to a tyrannical Usurpa- 
tion ; in dutiful respect for the early Fathers, 
whose aspirations are now ignobly thwarted ; in 
the name of the Constitution, which has been out- 
raged — of the Laws trampled down — of Justice 
banished — of Humanity degraded — of Peace de- 
stroyed — of Freedom crushed to earth ; and in 
the name of the Heavenly Father, whose sei'vice 
is perfect Freedom, I make this last appeal. 

26 



APPENDIX. 



SPEECH OF DAKIEL LOED. 

Delivered in tlie Broadway Tabernacle, May 30th, 1856. 

Why is it that the people are gathered here in thousands to- 
night ? It is not because they require information ; it is not 
because they need to be told wiiat has been done. No! It is 
because they know what has transpired, and desire to express 
their opinions and give their decision upon it, and upon the rights 
and privileges and principles involved. It is not the name of 
Brooks that gives importance to this occasion. Let that name 
be sunk. It is not the name of Sumner, great though that name 
is. Let even that name be sunk when the principles involved 
are to be considered. It is the fact that a Senator of the United 
States has been stricken down while in his seat upon the floor of 
the Senate chamber, that gives interest and importance to this 
occasion. And it is in view of the fearful importance of that act 
that we are to express what we think of Free Speech, a Free 
Press, and Free Thought. It is a question of order or anarchy ; 
of law or lawlessness. The audience do not require to be told 
what has been done, and they know in general how important 
are the principles involved ; but that you may know generally 
what it meaiiH, I will read from a debate, introduced into the 
Senate by Mr. Slidell, on the death of a member of the House 
of Representatives. 

It was at such a time and on such an occasion that the man 
from South Carolina went into the Senate chamber — a place 
where treaties are made — where debates are not to be conducted 
by young men — a place for the exhibition of mental, and not 
physical strength. It was there that he t^ent to do an act of 
violence. He found a man there who had grown prematurely 
old, in consequence of the nature of his labors — and what did 



304 APPENDIX. 

he do ? I will read to you what he did, from tlie statement of 
Senator Sumner. The Senator said : 

"I attended the Senate as usual on Thursday the 22d of May. 
After some formal business, a message was received from the 
House of Representatives, announcing the death of a member 
of that body from Missouri. This was followed by a brief tribute 
to the deceased from Mr. Geyer, of Missouri, when, according to 
the usage and out of respect to the deceased, the Senate ad- 
journed at once. Instead of leaving the Senate chamber with 
the rest of the Senators on the adjournment, I continued in ray 
seat, occupied with my pen ; and while thus intent, in order to 
be in season for the mail, wliich was soon to close, I was ap- 
proached by several persons who desired to converse with me ; 
but I answered them promptly and briefly, excusing myself for 
the reason tliat I was much engaged. When the last of these 
persons left me, I drew my armchair close to my desk, and with 
my legs under the desk, continued writing. My attention at this 
time was so entirely drawn from all other subjects, that, though 
there must have been many pei-sons in the Senate, I saw nobody. 
While thus intent, with my head bent over my writing, I was 
addressed by a person who approached the front of my desk, — so 
entirely unobserved, tliat I was unaware of his presence until I 
heard my name pronounced. As I looked up, with pen in hand, 
I saw a tall man, whose countenance was not familiar, standing 
directly over me, and at the same moment caught these words : 
' I have read your speech twice over, carefully ; it is a libel on 
South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine.' While 
these words were still passing from his lips, he commenced a 
succession of blows, with a heavy cane, on my bare head, by the 
first of which I was stunned so as to lose my sight. I saw no 
■ longer my assailant, nor any other person or object in the room. 
Wliat I did afterwards was done almost unconsciously, acting 
under the instincts of self-defence. With head already bent 
down I rose from my seat, wrenching up my desk, which was 
secured to the floor, and then pressing forward, while my assail- 
ant continued his blows. I had no other consciousness unfil I 
found myself ten feedforward, in front of my desk, lying on the 
tloor of the Senate, with my bleeding head supported on the 
knee of a gentleman whom I soon recognized by voice and man- 



APPENDIX. 305 

ner as Mr. Morgan, of Xew York. Other persons there were 
about me, offering me friendly assistance, but I did not recog- 
nize any of them. Others there were at a distance, looking on 
and offering no assistance, of whom I recognized only Mr. Doug- 
las, of Illinois, Mr. Toombs, of Georgia, and I thought, also, my 
assailant standing between them. I was helped from the floor, 
and conducted into the lobby of the Senate, where I was phu'cd 
upon a sofa. Of those who helped me here I have no recollec- 
tion. As I entered the lobby I recognized Mr. vSlidell, of Louis- 
iana, who retreated ; but I recognized no one else, until I felt a 
friendly grasp of the liand, which seemed to come from Mr. 
Campbell, of Ohio. I have a vague impression that Mr. Bright, 
President of the Senate, spoke to me while I was on the floor of 
the Senate or in the lobby. I make this statement in answer to 
the interrogatory of the Committee, and ofl'er it as presenting 
completely all my recollections of the assault and the attending 
circumstances, whether immediately before or immediately after. 
I desire to add, that besides the words which I have given, as 
uttered by my assailant, I have an indistinct recollection of the 
words ' old man ;' but they are so enveloped in the mist which 
ensued from the first blow, that I am not sure whether they 
were uttered or not." 

On the cross-examination of Mr. Sumner he stated that he was 
entirely without arms of any kind, and that he had no notice or 
warning of any kind, direct or indirect, of this assault. 

Here, then, we have a man going into the Senate, not to carry 
out any public object, but because, in his private opinion, a rela- 
tive of his had been seriously spoken of, and saying to a Sena- 
tor, " I came to deal you a blow." And that blow was dealt — 
not one, but many — until a Senator of the United States lay 
-weltering in his blood upon the floor of the Senate chamber. 
Could a case be presented in which would be more distinctly 
presented the destruction of Senatorial privilege of free speech 
and of free thought? It is not my vocation to load with epi- 
thets, and I will not do so now. I came with you, only to say 
what should be acted upon, and what we should tell such men 
hereafter awaits any similar act of theirs. But in arriving at 
an adequate idea of the danger to be apprehended from such 
au act as that of Brooks, it is proper and of the utmost import- 
26* 



30G APPENDIX. 

anee to know in what light it is viewed by Senators themselves. 
[By way of ascertaining that, he read from the explanation of 
Senator Slidell, when that Senator said he had not spoken- with 
Senator Sumner for two years, and therefore he did not think he 
was in a ])Osition to express syrapatliy.] 

Here was a Senator of the United States, who saw his brother 
Senator stricken down, and because he had not spoken with him 
for two years, did not think he was in a position to express sym- 
pathy. Was that, I would ask, the character of a public man ? 
Was that the proper feeling for a Senator ? Was that common 
humanity ? Why, if it were ray worst enemy that lay bleeding, 
I cannot conceive it in my nature, nor in yours, to pass him by 
without one sympathizing look. Senator Slidell liad not spoken 
to Mr. Sumner for two years, and therefore he was not in a po- 
sition to express sympatliy. 

Then there came Senator Douglas with his explanation. His 
first impulses were, so he said, to go in and restore quiet. Sen- 
ator Douglas not, having the hot blood of the South in his veins, 
was inclined to be conservative. But he feared his motives 
might be misconstrued, so he did not interfere. Another Senator 
saw his brother wounded upon tlie floor, and did not interfere, 
because he feared his motives might be misconstrued. I would 
tell Mr. Douglas, that when a man was being beaten by another 
in the manner in which Senator Sumner was beaten by the man 
from South Carolina, he might interfere to " restore quiet" with- 
out danger of having his motives misconstrued. 

I will now introduce to you another Senator, a gentleman that 
1 know in private life to be a man of liberal mind and of cour- 
teous manner. I am at a loss to know how such a man could 
agree in sentiment with the other Senators I have named, in 
reference to the striking down of Senator Sumner. But so it 
was. Senator Toombs corroborated the statements of Slidell 
and Douglas. He apyiroved of the act, and had no disposition to 
interfere, at least not in aid of Senator Sumner. This was a man 
representing the best he knew in social life. How is it that he 
could look with such an eye upon the reign of brutality in the 
Senate ? I cannot answer, unless it was because of the unwhole- 
some atmosphere that pervades Washington. I am unwilling to 
say that such is the spirit of the South : that slavery — base in 



APPENDIX. _ 307 

itself — debases all who coine in daily contact with it. I cannot 
believe that the South, at large, would coincide with Mr. Tonmbs. 
I call upon you to think of it as it is. It may be that the taint 
is all-pervading — more so than we are willing to believe. 

Again, there is the statement of Senntor Butler, the uncle of 
the nepliew. He had just arrived, and had said that had he 
been present he \vt)uld have taken all the responsibility that had 
been taken by his gallant nephew. His gallant nephew! This, 
then, is what is called chivalry. It was the custom among the 
Romans, when an act of disgraceful violence had been done, to 
ex|iress their disapprobation of it by calling it " Punic chivalry." 
I think tliat hereafter, in order to give a proper name to such 
acts, we shall have to call them " South Carolina chivalry." I 
think it well to look for a moment at what the Senate has done 
in the matter. The effect of it depends very much upon what 
the Senate thinks of it as a body — what the;/ think of their priv- 
ileges. What are their privileges ? Protection to them simply 
as men? Ko 1 because tliey are Senators. A protection similar 
to that given to the sailor under our flag — an important, a ne- 
cessary protection; for without it their freedom as law-makers 
is at an end. It is our privileges that make the Senate chamber 
sacred. These Senators are the judges of tlieir privileges — the 
exclusive judges. When, therefore, Senator Sumner made his 
speech, if the Senate did not deem his remarks improper, no one 
outside had a right to judge. But one outside has judged, and 
accompanied liis judgment by an outrage upon the privileges of 
the Senate. If the President, feeling offended at something that 
had been said, had marched to the Senate with a file of marines, 
it woidd liave been a revolutionary act ; and was the act of 
Brooks less an outrage than such an act would be i 

But the subject has a still graver aspect. It has been said by 
the Committee that tlie Senate has no power to defend its |)riv- 
ileges. This has been said, while it has been decided that every 
great deliberative body has the power to protect itself : they 
say, however, that they have no power to adjudicate upon it — 
that it must go to the House. Do they mean by that, that there 
is no greater protection in the Senate chamber than in a private 
parlor ? If so, theu there is an end to this government. Can 
they not interfere when there has been a breach of privilege ? 



308 APPENDIX 

No, not even when the laws of the land have heen violated ! 
And they were not violated by an outrage in the Senate ! The 
House could not even try a man who killed a waiter in a hotel 
because its privileges were not violated by that act. Where, 
then, is the protection to Free Speech and Free Thought ? 

If such is the correct view, the Senate is lost, and if the Sen- 
ate is lost, the Union must also fall. I stand here alarmed at 
that weak portion of the Union because of its madness ; for it 
depends alone upon the Senate, and if the privileges of the Sen- 
ate are to be without protection, when can its privileges be se- 
cured ? For in the duties of a Senator many a nephew must be 
affected ; and I would ask, are nephtWK to govern the eountr}' ? 

In conclusion, I would say to you that you must i/iark the men 
who looked coldly on Avhen such outrages were done. There are 
seventy thousand men on whom the politicians cannot calculate 
except upon the most important occasions. This is such an oc- 
casion ; and I hope they can be calculated upon with safety to 
proscribe such men at the ballot-box. 



EEMARKS 

Made at the Indignation Meeting in Boston, May 24tli, 1866. 
REirAK-KS OK GOVKENOR GARDNER. 

Governor Gardner, on taking the Chair, said this was not a per- 
sonal ovation. We come here as citizens of Massacliusetts, sim- 
ply and solely because a senator of Massachusetts has been as- 
saulted, with a grossness and brutalitv which history, until now, 
has never had written upon her pages. This was not a |>«rty 
meeting; if so, he would not, as Governor of Massachusetts, 
sanction it with his presence. [Cheers.] He would consider 
himself recreant to his duty were he not to meet on an occasion 
like this, with his friends, to give utterance to his sentiments. 
He referred to the occasion when Senator Sumner last addressed 
the citizens of Boston, from this rostrum, against himself (Gard- 
ner), who was then the candidate of an opposite party to that to 
which Mr. Sumner belonged, and be thanked the Committee, 



APPENDIX. 309 

who, by requesting him to preside on this occasion, had given 
him an opportunity to rise superior to party prejudice. "While 
Mr. Sumner is in the Senate, he -would do all in his power and 
al)ility to strengthen his arm and aid him in his official duties. 
[Renewed cheers.] In years gone by outrages have been com- 
mitted in Congress, aye, even murder committed by its mem- 
bers, but this is the first time that a senator has been struck 
down, in his seat, in the Senate chamber. We now call upon 
Congress to expel the assailant from the Halls of Congress. 
[Cheers] The Governor animadverted briefly upon the harsh 
invective and opprobrium that prevailed among all parties, 
which, to some extent, has engendered the bitter personal feel- 
ings between opposing political factions. [A few persons in the 
gallery, thinking this referred to Mr. Sumner's late speech, com- 
niencetl hissing, but were effectually drowned by repeated cheers, 
and Mr. Gardner continued.] He said the question before us 
was, shall a senator from Massachusetts be denied the indulgence 
in debate, and in the same manner, that sixty other senators are 
allowed. The Governor th.-n alluded to the speech of Mr, Sum- 
ner as being far less objectionable than many that have been 
made by others in the halls of Congress, and concluded by say- 
ing, that when the just and equitable rights of our Massachusetts 
representatives were denied them, that he who would not rise 
in opposition to such jiroccedings is not worthy of the rights he 
enjoys. [Tremendous cheering.] 

The President then introduced Judge Russell, who read the 
fuUowing 

EESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That we have heard with deep grief and indigna- 
tion of the brutal assaiilt on our esteemed Senator, Charles Sum- 
ner, for words spoken in debate, and of the insult offered in his 
person to the honor of our Commonwealth. 

Resolved, That in this outrage we see new encroachments upon 
freedom, new violations of State rights, and a strange disregard 
of chivalrous princii-les, while in the conduct of such men as 
Senator Crittenden we gladly recognize proofs of the fact, that 
in all sections of the country there are men of high honor, of 
pure principles, and of true patriotism. 

Resolved. That this attack is to be rebuked, not only as a cow- 



310 APPENDIX. 

ardh' assault upon a defenceless man, but as a ciime against the 
right of free speech and the dignity of a free State. 

Resolved, That as American citizens, we deeply lament the 
odium which such acts cast upon our country and upon the 
cause of republicanism throughout the world. 

Resolved, That although sixty-eight members of the national 
House of Representatives have voted that they think no inquiry 
regarding the outrage is necessary, still we feel confident that 
Congress will free itself from the same crime, by expelling the 
offender from the seat which he has disgraced. 

Resolved, That wc regard every blow irtflietecl upon our Sena- 
tor as a blow aimed at us ; that in our estimation his wounds 
are honorable wounda ; that as citizens of Massachusetts, with- 
out distinction of pai'ty, we pledge him here, in old Faneuil 
Hall, our sympathy and support in the fearless and independent 
discharge of his duty. 

REMARKS OF HON. JOHN C. PARK. 

Hon. John C. Park, in seconding the resolutions, said he came 
here entirely divested of party feehngs, as a citizen of Boston. 
Every hour, l)y every railroad train and by telegraph, we re- 
ceive tidings of spontaneous outbui'sts from all our neighboring 
cities, and the city of Boston, true to her cherished principles, 
will not be backward in an expression of indignation at this 
great outrage. He claimed that the citizens of Boston were a 
law-loving people, a law-abiding people, and in proof of this as- 
sertion stated that it was but two years previous to the day Mi*. 
Sumner was beaten down so cowardly in the Senate chamber, 
that the citizen soldiery of Massachusetts were displayed in force 
to show our adhesion to constituted law. [Sensation.] He de- 
nounced the attack upon our senator as an unwarrantable exhi- 
bition of brute force. If free speech and free discussion are not to 
be granted, our forefathers landed at Plymouth Rock for no pur- 
pose ; our fathers at Bunker Hill, aud South Carohna's fathers at 
Yorktown, bled in vain. If free speech is to be beaten down, 
then Webster and Clay and other pati-iota labored in vain. 
[Cheers.] From the time of the Reformation to the liberty 
(enslavement?) of free Kansas, free speech had been baptized 
in blood. The speaker concluded by .«aying, that if South Car- 



APPENDIX. 311 

olina will ignore this base outrage, committed by one of her 
sons, she ■will find that Massachusetts, now as of old, is ready to 
meet her, and again unite in fraternal bonds. [Cheers.] 

REMARKS OF HON. GEORGE S. HILLARD. 

Hon. George S. Hillard said he came to the meeting as a 
citizen of Boston, in the Kroadest acceptation of the term. The 
moral effect and significance of this meeting will be just in pro- 
portion as it is kept clear of party issues. Assaults in Wash- 
ington are not rare [laughter], but the assault which we have 
met to condemn greatly exceeds in malignity all former ones. 
The principle that a man can resort to personal violence to re- 
dress a private wrong, we all most emphatically repudiate. 
There is no palliation for the offence. The assault was not a 
hot-headed one, for he had at least one sun to set upon his 
wrath. The attack was cowardly in the extreme, and the act 
was that of an assassin. We come together to-night to express 
our sympathy with our now prostrate senator. It is not that he 
is a member of any party, but that he is a representative of the 
State of Massachusetts, that we tender him our expressions of 
sympathy. In conclusion, he expressed his detestation of the 
act, and would calmly record his unqualified indignation against 
the outrageous proceeding. [Great applause.] 

REMARKS OF HON. E. C. BAKER 

Hon. E. C. Baker, President of the Senate of Massachusetts, 
was then introduced. He said : " Fellow-citizens of Boston, 
fellow-citizens of Massachusetts — Of what do you complain ? 
It is because Massachusetts has been stabbed through her sena- 
tor." He then referred, in indignant terms, to the assault, but 
counselled coolness and moderation, relying upon the future 
that the right might triumpli. 

REMARKS OF HON. CHARLES A. PHELF,9. 

Hon. Charles A. Phelps next addressed the audience, and 
made a spirited and truly New England speech. In the course 
of his remarks he said he hoped the people of Massachusetts 
would teach the federal government that tliere is a Massachu- 
setts as well as a federal government, and that she will have 



312 APPENDIX. 

her rights. This was received with the most tremendous 
cheering. 

REMARKS OF HON. SAMTEL H. WALLEY. 

Hon. Samuel H. "W alley, formerly member of Congress, was 
the next speaker. His remarks were highly appropriate, and 
were enthusiastically received. He concluded as follows : " I 
believe that the blows which fell upon Mr. Sumner will, in the 
results they will bring about, make us a more united and a more 
happy, because a more free people." 

REMARKS OF COL. A. D. BREWSTER. 

Col. A. D. Brewster was received with hearty cheers. He 
said he was prepared to make a clean breast of it. [Cheers.] 
Under the flag of our country, floating over our National Cap- 
itol, a senator of Massachusetts had been cloven down by a das- 
tardly coward. He trusted that a voice would go forth from 
Faneuil Hall tonight that would shake the country from battle- 
ment to foundations. [Cheers] He knew not what course 
others might take, but as for him, give him liberty or give liim 
death. [Enthusiastic applause.] He also quoted the remark of 
Webster, that there was a blow to give as well as to take, and 
said, " If it comes to that, fellow-citizens, I say, let it be war to 
the knife, and tlie knife to the hilt." [Terrific cheers.] If the 
South wants to play at that game, let her remember that two 
can play at it. [Cheers, and cries of " That's it."] The duty of 
the North is to arm to the teeth, and submit no more to such 
indignities as have been heaped upon her. [Repeated cheers, 
and cries of " Good, good."] He concluded by counselling firm- 
ness on our part, and when the time does come, the North would 
come out of the battle as she did in the times that tried men's 
souls, with victory perched upon her baimers. His remarks 
throughout were warmly endorsed by the immense audience. 

Col. Brewster was followed by John A. Andrew and Peleg 
W. Chandler, when the resolutions were unanimously adopted, 
and at 11 p. m. the meeting adjourned. 



APPENDIX. 313 

SPEECH OF REV. DR. HAGUE, 

At the Indignation Meeting in Albany, June 6, 1865. 

Mr. President, it has been asked, in the spirit of ultra-eonser- 
vatism, why should a clergyman leave his pulpit and the peace- 
ful routine of his profession, to mingle with statesmen and civil- 
ians upon any occasion touching which the opinions of the 
community may be divided? Why should he thus hazard his 
influence for the spiritual good of men with any class or party ? 
Recently, ex-Governor Washburn, of Massachusetts, in declining 
to attend a meeting of this character, gave, as his excuse, that 
he did not feel at liberty to commit the Law School of the Uni- 
versity with which he is connected to any thing that might be 
deemed a party measure ; and the Hon. Edward Everett, also, 
has assigned as a reason for non-attendance under similar circum- 
stances, that he had retired from public life ! But, sir, it has been 
aptly asked, had he also retired from private life ? [Applause.] 
By a strange combination of events, the great principles that 
lie at the basis of public and private welfare are in jeopardy 
throughout this country ; and I promptly answer your call to 
unite in public action with my fellow-citizens on this occasion, 
because I would not have it supposed by any human being that 
I would be the minister of a Christianity that is capable of in- 
dift'orence to evils so momentous. [Applause.] When freedom 
of speech is struck down in the Capitol, when that liberty which 
is dearer than life is assailed by many hands, let the opinion 
prevail that Christianity has too high and too holy an office to 
take any part in the contest, or to lift aloud the voice of her 
testimony, and at once she " resents the foul indignity, claps her 
wings and takes her flight, leaving nothing in her room but a 
base and sanctimonious hypocrisy!" [Applause.] If a pagan 
audience in a Roman theatre could feel one electrical thrill pro* 
duced by that celebrated line of a noble poet, " I am a man, and 
am indifferent to nothing that affects humanity," surely it is fit- 
ting for me to say in this presence — I am a Christian minister; 
and since the fortunes of humanity are intrusted to my country, 
I am indifferent to nothing that affects her destiny. [Applause.] 
27 



314 APPENDIX. 

Mr. President, I will not detain yoxi, nor my fellow-oitizens 
here assembled, by any elaborate description of the outrages 
and the shocking enormities that have been committed in Wash- 
ington and Kansas, which have elsewhere been subjected to a 
searching analysis, and commented upon in terms of honest, in- 
dignant reprobation. Our hearts have been stirred to their 
depths by a perusal of these blood-stained records ; our slum- 
bers have been disturbed by frightful visions of tlie homes of 
freemen wrapped in flames ; of the smouldering ruins of pros- 
perous towns, and of families robbed of their hard earnings by 
hordes of border-rufBans, sustained and stimulated to deeds of 
violence by a national administration, whose complicated policy, 
like a wiiy net-work moved bj* the hundred-handed giant of 
ancient story, has been so extended and contracted as to " crush 
out" the young communities who sought a peaceful settlement 
npon the unoccupied soil of I?ansas. 

While moved with grief in view of these calamities and of 
this national disgrace, a voice of eloquent remonstrance reacht s 
us from the nation's Capitol. An honored senator, a scholar, a 
gentleman, well versed in the rules of debate, rises in his place, 
traces the rise and progress of this lawlessness, and charges the 
responsibility attached to it upon its real authors and support- 
ers. Surrounded by men who met his calm gnze with glances 
of defiant wrath, and under the eye of a presiding officer able 
and ready to resist the least inlringement of the rules of parlia- 
mentary debate, he, nevertheless, bore himself with an unsur- 
passed dignity, commanded their attention, and gained a moral 
victory. But the arrows of truth rankle in the hearts of his 
enemies. After the hour of adjournment he still retains his 
chair, bends down over his manuscript, and plies his pen in or- 
der to prepare his letters for the mail ; and there, in all the un- 
suspiciousness of an honest heart, while performing his dut}', he 
is suddenly felled by a stealthy blow from the bludgeon of an 
assassin, and the floor of the Senate chamber is stained with 
gore ! From that hour to this that bloody stain hath put forth 
a voice, and like the blood of Abel, hath called to heaven and 
earth for avenging justice. It shall not call in vain ! [Ap- 
plause.] 

But then, Mr. President, let us be assured, it is not merely 



APPENDIX. 315 

sympathy with the personal sufferings of men, women, and chil- 
dren in Kansas, that stirs the spirit of the North, and fills this 
hall to-nigiit with a throng of indignant men. It is not merely 
sympathy with the personal wrongs of Charles Sumner, as the 
gallant defender of these injured people, that draws multitudes 
together in assemblies like this, from the Atlantic to the great 
Lakes. Oh, no ! Sympathy with personal wrongs is a mighty 
principle, but it does not develop itself after tliis fashion. But, 
sir. tliese things are the signs of a more ]1ortentous evil that lies 
away back of this whole array of atrocities. In the person of 
Charles Sumner freedom of speech has been struck down, and in 
the palliations as well as in the applause that followed it, the 
reign of ruffianism has been inaugurated and proclaimed at the 
national Capitol. The people see in this series of outrages a de- 
liberately formed conspiracy against liberty — a conspiracy to 
employ ruffian force in conjunction with the overwhelming pow- 
er of the general government, to subseiwe the ends and aims of 
an audacious slavery pro]>agandism. [Applause.] 

Does any one ask, sir, why these things are so — why bordor- 
ruffianism is triumphant, and wliy the temple of liberty has 
been desecrated by deeds of infamy that would bring disgrace 
upon the veriest despotism on the earth ? Sir, this state of 
things has an instructive histor}^ ; and in one important particu- 
lar, public opinion needs to be rightly directed by a clear view 
of the facts of that history. Public opinion, guided by the lights 
of southern politics, has been, for some time, accustomed to at- 
tribute the origination of all our troubles connected with slavery 
to the fanatical 'abolitionism of the North, exciting the South to 
fanatical reactions. But this statement of the case comes from 
a very narrow view of the past. History will not justify it. I 
wish to call the attention of every man in this house, who may 
be interested in our civil history, to the statements I am about 
to make on this point, for it has sometimes been seen that even 
men of learning, well read in their country's annals, in relation 
to this subject, have been misguided by erroneous and unjust 
impressions. It has often been said that Massachusetts was the 
prolitic source of that fanatical abolitionism which irritated, gall- 
ed, and alarmed the South; but the truth is, South Carolina 
became, /rA< of all, the genial hot-bed of that pro-slavery fanat- 



316 APPENDIX. 

icism, -which has, for the last quarter of a century, agitated 
the whole country, startled it from hard-earned repose by the 
announcement of revolting doctrines, by gigantic schemes of 
slavery propagandism, and by reckless efforts for the attainment 
of supremacy. South Carolina, who now applauds her sons 
while wielding bludgeons in their ruffian war upon free men 
and free speech, has been the original plague-spot upon our 
body-politic, whence has proceeded that fatal virus that has 
diffused poison through all its veins. [Applause.] 

Yes, Mr. President, you often hear it said b}' us coiiservatists 
(for I claim to have a place in the ranks of conservatism), 
[laughter], that to the abolition-ultraismof Massachusetts, which 
as an organized force is now about twenty-five years of age, is 
to be attributed all the agitation which has since shaken the 
republic to its centre. But, sir, the organized fanaticism of pro- 
slavery had an earlier birth than that, at the South, and was 
developed in fulness of form before Garrisonian abolitionism 
had produced the slightest stir in the country. If any one doubt 
this statement, let him turn to the pages of such a work as the 
African Repository ; let him look at the number for the month 
of October, 1830, and he will find the leading article, "An Ap- 
peal to South Carolina." It is an able article. It was written 
by a southern man ; it was published at "Washington, with the 
approbation of many southern men. It contains an argument 
addressed to the chivalrous little State against the course she 
had been previousit/ pursuing in banishing from her borders all 
the agents of the American Colonization Society, on the ground 
that even their cautious efforts for gradual emancipation were 
hostile to the permanent interests of slavery, and it elosfS with 
a solemn warning against the fearful consequences of adopting a 
policy which involved the idea of the perpetuation of the slave- 
system. To that appeal South Carolina would not listen. Here 
she stood before the world an embodiment of pro-slavery fanat- 
icism, muffling the trumpet of free speech within all her bounda- 
ries, although its notes fell only upon the ears of white men ; and 
from that time she has moved forward with steady step in her 
bad career, until her policy has become predominant — until the 
moral sense of neighboring States has become debauched by her 
doctrines— -until the federal government has become subservient 



APPENDIX. 317 

to h r bidding — until territory consecrated to freedom has been 
fiiched from its rightful owners— until the Senatf chamber has 
been stained with blood shed by her applaude 1 ruffianism — until 
freemen,wh() deetn it barbarous to carry pistols or bowie-knives, 
tamely whisper their honest sentiments at the corners of the 
streets in the Isatioual Capital ! This terrible regime, which has 
now issued in a reign of terror at Washington, originated, not in 
Massachusetts, but in South Carolina. [Applause.] 

But, sir, this South Carolinian policy did not represent, twen- 
ty years ago, the spirit of the South. It was not a Virginian 
policy ; it was not a North Carolinian or a Georgian policy. 
Kentuckj^the home of Henry Clay, Tennessee, and other States, 
favored the humane sentiment of gradual emancipation. These 
States still honored the names of "Washington, Jefferson, Frank- 
lin, and the men who framed the ordinance of 1787. It was 
said by Senator Corwin, in his celebrated speech of 1848, that 
there were not to be found three counties in the State of Vir- 
ginia, that had not expressed their desire, by public resolutions, 
that the Western Territories should all be settled by agricul- 
turists, mechanics, artisans, by free proprietors, and not by a 
race of slaves. Such was the spirit of the Old South. But 
there has now sprung into being a Young South, scouting the 
doctrines of their fathers, madly set upon wielding the sceptre 
of a great slave-power, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 
yielding themselves as willing captives to grace the triumph of 
this rampant South Carolinianism. [Applause.] 

And what, sir, are the chief elements which distinguish this 
policy of South Carolinianism ? It is distinguished, sir, by a sen- 
timent and by a doctrine. Its leading sentiment is the scorn of 
FREE LABOR. Its leading doctrine is that Slavery is a good 

THING, SANCTIONED BY CHRISTIANITY, THE PERMANENT BASIS OF THE 
SOCIAL SYSTEM, TO BE PERPETU.\TED AND EXTENDED. Soutll arolinian- 

ism looks down with contempt upon those who rise to fortune 
by their own energies, or those who proceed from the loins of 
men who have cut their path to distinction by their own hands. 
Alas, what an insult to Senatorial dignity was perpetrated when 
men of blood and ancestry were expected to acknowledge the 
equality of Gen. Wilson, whose sobriquet with them was " the 
Katie Shoemaker 1" Had they not suffered enough from the 
27* 



318 APPENDIX. 

North before, when men of trade, who had sprung from behind 
the counter, had been seated at their side? Senator Butler felt 
indignant that he had been compared to Don Quixote. But Don 
Quixote would have been ashamed to have been deemed a 
champion to enslave and not a champion to emancipate. [Ap- 
plause.] Mediaeval chivalry was not like the modern chivalry. 
Don Quixote, not the Senator, might, with good reason, have 
objected to the comparison. [Laughter.] 

Mr. President, under the reign of this South Carolinianism, the 
state of things at Washington, so far as freedom of speech is 
concerned, is getting to be as bad as it is at the capital of Aus- 
tria. I remember when in Vienna, some years ago, to have 
heard of a young Englishman who ventured to say, in a Cafe, 
" I love tea." He spoke in German, and I know not exactly how 
he pronounced or mispronounced the German phrase for that fine 
sentiment ; but it sounded in the ears of an Austrian officer there 
present somewhat like Liberty ! The stranger was tapped on 
the shoulder with this ominous warning : " You must not talk 
about Liberty here!" [Laughter.] That seems all right in 
Austria. But now at Washington, Senator Sumner, having 
spoken of Liberty, was not gently accosted by an officer of the 
law, and cautioned against his temerity, but he was brutally as- 
sailed by an armed ruffian, and, in the very sanctuary of the 
Republic, felled to the floor ! That is all right at Washington, 
respond the chivalry ! [Applause.] 

Mr. President, it is the duty of this meeting to re.spond to that 
dastardly blow, and to express its just demand that the man who 
did this thing should be expelled from the House of Representa- 
tives. [Applause.] Morality, Religion, Freedom, the strug- 
o-ling Democracy of the Old World as well as the real Democra- 
cy here, require this act of atonement at the hands of the Rep- 
resentatives of the people. [Applause.] ^ 

But further, sir, in the teriitory of Kansas, the people should 
have been left unmolested by the border ruffians, who have in- 
vaded their free soil. Whatever may be said or thought of 
" Squatter Sovereignty," about which I might but will not now 
make an argument— the settlers should have been secured fair 
play by the men in power. [Applause.] But this they have not 
had ; and this they are not likely to have under the present ad- 



APPENDIX. 319 

ministration. But, sir, we should not forget thena in their hour 
of need. We should STistain them in their struggle ; for all that 
is worth living for, as citizens and as men, is bound up in the 
sacred principle for which they are contending. With them, iu 
this holy contest, let us stand, whether it be for life or for death. 
[Loud applause.] 

Sir, if this South Carolina propagandism shall succeed, and we, 
for any reason, acquiesce in its ascendency — if Free Sp -ech in 
Congress and Free Men in Kansas shall be cloven down, and we 
cry "Peace," "Peace," over the sacrifice, a state of things Avill 
be brought about which will not only prove that all mauhood 
has gone out of us, but which will make us a by-word to all 
people, and render it impossible for us to look, without a blush, 
in the face of any civilized nation. [Applause.] 

George Bancroft, the historian, is no extremist. Conservatism 
breathes through every line of his writings. Yet, in his miscel- 
laneous works he has produced an essay — the ablest which ever 
emanated from his pen — to prove that the fall of the Gracchi 
was the fall of Rome. The Gracchi desired to elevate their 
country by dividing up her immense landed estates. They 
wished to raise up a free proprietorship, so as to identify th 
mass of the people with the welfare of the country. The ] . - 
ciple which they advocated was called " agrarianism" — ev^-., now 
a term of reproach. It was, however, a principle tl'e success of 
which would have saved Rome. But the ari9to( lacy crushed 
the Gracclii, and Rome fell. Alison embodies the same idea in 
his remark, that Rome fell because she was filled with proprie- 
tors who had no courage to defend their lands, and with slaves, 
who had no lands to stimulate their courage; and this was true. 

In these ideas of these two eminent historians, there is much 
that is applicable to our own present condition. The policy of 
South Carolina propagandism is to wrest free soil from free labor 
— to break up the system of small landed proprietorships, which is 
one of the most important elements of Northern prosperity ; 
and, after the slave soil of the old States is exhausted, to take 
possession of the virgin soil of the new territories, and, like the 
aristocracy of Rome, to occupy it in large estates, and by pre- 
venting their [possession by small proprietors, render this nation 
what Rome became under a like system, but a hollow shell, hav- 



320 APPENDIX. 

ing no internal strength and susceptible of being crushed by the 
first assault of an invading power. [Applause.] This is the 
fate with which we are threatened by this system of propagan- 
disra. If not checked, it will become a mill-stone around the 
neck of the nation — an angel of destiny to sink us, like Rome, 
down and down into the vortex of ruin, to rise no more forever. 
[Applause.] 

Mr. President, the elements of the power of our country are 
its free institutions — its almost universal land proprietorship and 
free labor. Who can think of the destruction of these elements 
(and they will be destroyed if this propagandism prevails) with- 
out exclaiming, " Let not mine eyes behold it," and in reference 
to the agencies by which this ruin must be, if it be at all, con- 
Bummated, " Come not, my soul, into their secret." [Applause.] 

An emperor of Rome once did a queer thing. He made his 
horse a consul. A distinguished man was once asked what kind 
of a people they must have been to have borne such a disgrace- 
ful exhibition of imperial power ? '' What kind of a people were 
they?" was the reply: "why, the}' were just such a people as 
we are ; and it was not until he saw that he had people which 
would bear such an indignity that he offered it." By gradual 
downward steps, the people of Rome became prepared for any 
humiliation ; and when this horse was declared their consul, they 
did not feel that it was an indignity. Sir, the people of thia 
country may fall from their present high estate. If they shall 
neglect to repel the encroachments of the propaganda — if they 
shall not say to South Carolinianism, " Thus far slialt thou come, 
but no farther" — the law of gravitation will soon bear us down 
to so low a depth, that we will accept, from some insolent Pres- 
ident, not, perhaps, a horse for a consul, but some Brooks or 
Butler for a Secretary of State. [Laughter and applause.] If 
such a humiliation should be offered us, it would be because, by 
our pusillanimous conduct, ia submitting to and acquiescing in 
every encroachment and wrong which South Carolina and her 
Southern adjuncts and Northern allies might impose upon us, we 
would prove that we were prepared for it. 

Mr. President, in conclusion, permit me to say, that I, with all 
my heart, approve the resolutions which have been read to us, 
»!-<' commend them to the favorable suffrages of the meeting. 



APPENDIX. 321 

Let them be adopted by all means ; and let the voice of the 
people of the North, in view of what is passing around us, be 
heard in tones loud as the voice of many waters, crying out 
against the sacrilege perpetrated in our National Senate Cham- 
ber, and against the series of encroaclmients and outrages which 
have strewed, with violence and bloodshed, the pathway of a 
noble and niauly people. [Applause.] Justice demands it. The 
dignity of our manhood demands it. The sacred principle o 
free speech demands it. And it is demanded by the inalienable 
rights of man, b}^ our free institutions, and by the enduring 
glory of our beloved land. 

The speaker retired amid the long-continued applause of his 
hearers. 



SPEECH OF REV. DR. HALLEY, 

At the Indignation Meeting in Albany, June 6, 1856. 

This has been termed an indigaation meeting ; and do not the 
circumstances under which we meet wariant the term? As 
men, do we not feel indignant that the treatment which is due 
alone to the brute, should have been inflicted on one of our spe- 
cies ? [Applause.] As citizens of this enlightened republic, should 
we not be indignant that in the nineteenth century, and in the 
Capitol of our country, has been perpetrated an outrage worthy 
of a Mandarin in China, or the despotic autocrat of Russia ? [Ap- 
jilause.] And as JVurtlierners, do we not feel indignant that one 
of our enlightened statesman — a man of refined taste, consum- 
mate talent, and commanding eloquence, should, for his generous 
philantliropy, and while within tlie sanctuary of justice, be beat- 
en, bruised, and almost murdered — while the conduct of the 
cowardly caitiff wlio did the deed, is almost universally approved 
by that section of our country to wliich he belongs ? [Applause.] 
Can we sit unmoved under such indignities? Are we to permit 
the majesty of law to be profaned — the interests of humanity 
sacrificed, and the constitutional rights, which were purchased 
with blood, to be invaded thus ruthlessl}' ? To remain silent 
under provocation like this, would be to hang up a defamatory 



322 A p r E X D I X . 

lj,l)el on tlie institutions of our country — to make our forefathers 
blush on their thrones of glory for their degenerate offspring, 
and will only prepare for loading us with deeper insults and 
abuse. [Applause.] And if this flagrant outrage does not lead 
to prompt and momentous action, I fondly trust that the Soiilh 
will continue to scourge and oppress us, as we deserve, beyond 
the utmost pitch of human endurance. [Applause.] 

Sir, let us look at the case. The right of free, unshackled dis- 
cussion, is a necessary element in the liberty of any country. 
No evil can arise from the full exercise of this. I would even 
give full freedom to every one to express his sentiments on reli- 
gious subjects. [Applause.] Some conscientious persons are 
alarmed lest the vital interests of religion should be endangered 
by the sophistry and wit. with which it is assailed. It is a 
groundless, unholy, and pernicious fear. Error alone has reason 
to recoil from investigation. Truth only becomes the more im- 
pregnable the longer it is assailed. [Applause.] How strikingly 
does this appear from the whole historj' of the Infidfl contro- 
versy! The speculations of these writers called out, for the de- 
fence of Christianity, a host of advocates, unrivalled for their 
profound learning, powerful reasoning, and philosophical analy- 
sis — the Lelands and the Lardncrs, the Warb'irtons, the Paleys, 
the Watsons — who have demolished entirely the arguments of 
their opponents, and laid the controversy forever at rest. No 
writer of eminence now has the audacity to throw down the 
gauntlet as the advocate of infidelity, and those precious de- 
fences of Chi-istianity owed their existence to the freedom allowed 
in religious discussion. [Applause.] And should not equal lati- 
tude be allowed on every subject connected with the interests of 
society and the rights of humanity ? Is it not the guilty alone 
that need fear discussion, while truth and good order are sure to 
emerge from the collisions of debate? [Applause.] This I'ight 
of free discussion has been so dearly valued that poets have ?ung 
it, patriots have toiled for it, martyrs have died in its defence. 
It is so essential to the moral dignity, the elevation, the hajipi- 
ness, and progress of society, that to arrest it would inflict as 
serious a calamity on our species, as to liottle up the rain in the 
clouds, or put an entire extinguisher upon the aun. [Applause.] 
Accordingly, it is the j olicy of every tyrant, not only tu s'.op '.lie 



APPENDIX. 323 

liberty of the press, but also free oral discussion among his sub- 
jects, respecting the measures of government. And with this 
view, spies glide like serpents into the secrecies of the domestic 
circle, and a system of detestable espionage, through tlie medium 
of police and other vile emissaries, prevails, which destroys the 
contidence of society, and makes man a coward and a dastardly 
slave. And thall we ever arrive at this crisis — under the sua of 
Ameiican liberty, on a soil watered with blood, and where our 
mountains, valleys, and lakes are associated witli the valiant 
struggles and devoted heroism of our forefathers, shall we lose 
this invaluable birthright? [Apjilause] Why, my hearers, if 
this daring outrage is permitted to go unpunished, and if the con- 
duct of senators at Washington, in their lenient strictures, be 
regarded as the pulse of public opinion, I cannot be sure of the 
result, unless you stand (will you not ?) as vigilant sentinels over 
the liberties of your country, and rescue them from the grasp of 
unprincipled politicians. [Applause.] 

A senator, in the i^roper discharge of his legislative duties, had 
been discussing a grave question connected with the f^uture des- 
tiny of a new territory recently peopled, and because he had the 
manliness openly to declare his sentiments on a question ob- 
noxious to others, a bully lays him prostrate with a stick on the 
floor of the hall of legislation. Nor is this the worst feature of 
the case. Senators calmly looked on and applauded, or but 
faintly condemned this unconstitutional invasion of their rights, 
and the whole Southern press, with scarcely an exce]>tion, is 
sounding the praises of the ruffian in paeans of unqualified ad- 
miration. And this is not the first nor the second instance of a 
similar outrage that has been there recently perpetrated. Rome 
trembled when Catiline rejoiced. [Applause.] 

Fellow-citizens, watch over your liberties, and especially the 
right of free discussion, for it is the corner-stone of the edifice of 
liberty. Charles I., of England, once attem|)ted to destroy it. 
He went into the House of Parliament with a band of soldiers, 
resolved to intimidate certain independent sjjirits. And how- 
did tlie nation feel at this violation of the rights of their repre- 
sentatives ? Why, sir, it was like an electric .shock over the 
whole English nation. One simultaneous roar of indignation was 
heard from Dover to Newcastle. The bells of the citv were 



3i4 APPENDIX. 

rung — the beacon fires -were lighted — the train-bands of London, 
the miners of Cornwall, the yeomanry of Kent, buckled on 
their armor to resist this unhallowed invasion of their right ; and 
they laid it not aside till they had hurled the tyrant from the 
throne, brought him to the block, and wiped out the atrocity of 
his attempted crime in his blood. [Long, loud, and reiterated 
applause.] A nation is safe, as to its rights, when there is such 
a healthy pulse of public opinion. [Applause.] 

Now, sir, I want to know, how they felt at Washington, re- 
specting this recent outrage. When I remember that it is the 
Capital of our country — the high seat of legislation — the place 
where the illustrious Washington, Jefferson, and others, presided, 
forming a galaxy of names to which it is vain to look for a paral- 
lel in the palmiest days of the Roman republic — why, sir, at an 
outrage like this, committed within these sacred precincts, I could 
almost have imagined that the stones of the street would have 
cried out for vengeance, and the busts of these venerable cham- 
pions would have shook on their pedestals, and that loud indig- 
nation would have been expressed by every one. A number of 
these senators met, and, in drawing up a paper to the world, 
they pronounced it to be "an unfortunate occurrence!" "An 
unfortunate occurrence !" In retiring from this place on my way 
home, I stumble in the darkness on a lamp-post, which causes my 
nose to bleed. This is "an unfortunate occurrence." [Laugh- 
ter.] Or I am robbed on the way of two dollars, and this, for a 
clergyman that belongs to a class always proverbially poor, is an 
" unfortunate occurrence." [Laughter.] And — oh shame I — 
when justice is insulted in the hall of legislation, and a vital blow 
is aimed at the liberties of our country, no severer epithet can 
be found to reprobate it, than that it is an "unfortunate occur- 
rence!" Things are rotten and out of joint in tiie state of Den- 
mark, when such a crime receives not even the shadow of con- 
demnation, but is called simply an " unfortunate occurrence." 
[Applause.] 

Sir, with the idea of palliating, if not wholly of vindicating 
the conduct of this caitiff, it has been alleged that the speech of 
Mr. Sumner furnished strong provocation. This, to some degree, 
was the opinion of the gentlemen who preceded me. Now, sir, I 
find none. 1 have carefully perused it, and find it to be not only 



APPENDIX. 325 

instnictive in its historical details, eloquent in its language, logi- 
cal in its deductions, and cogent in its appeals, but strictly within 
the proprieties of parliamentary usage. There is wit, indeed — 
salient wit — keen irony — at times, scorching sarcasm; but who 
does not know that ample latitude is allowed to a public speaker 
on exciting themes; while there is nothing in it that approaches 
within a thousand degrees of the vulgarity and billing-gate and 
blackguardism of the senator from Illinois — the man whom the 
South has, but no longer, delighteth to honor. [Laughter and 
applause.] In the discussions to which this event has given rise, 
one paper refers to the speech of the late Daniel Webster, in re- 
ply to Hayne, and regrets that Mr. Sumner did not adopt it as 
his model. Now, every one that has read that speech (and who 
has not read it ?) will remember that it contains passages of deep- 
est sarcasm, and especially when he represents Hayne, in defi- 
ance of the law, proceeding to the custom-house with a band of 
militia, " sonorous metal, blowinsr martial sounds," the trumpeter 
holding liis breath while his soldier.s are questioning him respect- 
ing the constitutionality of the act, and deterred from any overt 
act from the consideration that the hemp-tax might be worse 
than even the taritf itself. This piece of delicate pleasantry 
passed unchallenged ; and why, sir ? Not because the allusions 
were not equally severe to a sensitive mind, as to Don Quixote, 
but because the mind of the North was more erect and less 
cowed than it is since. [Applause.] The South has become 
haughty and domineering, because her interests are almost ex- 
clusively consulted. She chains us to her car, and leads us 
wherever she will Administrations must be upset, cabinets dis- 
solved, tariff and anti-tariff laws made, Missouri compromises 
and Nebraska bills. Fugitive Slave laws and Kansas insurrec- 
tions, must be constantly heavinff up our country on the waves of 
political agitation ; and so insolent has she become, that when one 
of our honored representatives from the North, manfully opens 
his mouth and utters his dissent to those measures, in lancrua2:e 
not more strontr and impassioned than the occasion warranted 
he must be struck down like a brute beast, and this ruffianly 
conduct extolled through the territories of the South. [Ap- 
plause.] Is this to be borne? Shall it be borne any longer? 
Has it not been borne with too long ? And, oh I sir, when I look 
28 



326 APPENDIX. 

at the present condition of Kansas, with a soil fertile to exuber- 
ance, and presenting every facility for the industrious emigrant, 
■with his family, to settle down, and am told that with the view 
of gratifying this grasidng cupidity of the South, its infant liber- 
ties must be strangled, and its infant prosperity blasted, its 
thriving villages fired, its fields trodden down, and its inhabitants 
flying in every direction to save themselves from armed ruffians 
who are doing their foul deeds of violence with the sanction and 
to advance the interests of the South ; — why, sir, we are the slaves^ 
if we permit these atrocities to go on unchallenged, and may 
adopt the language of Cassius respecting Caesar : " The south, it 
doth bestride the world like a colossus, and we petty men walk 
under its liuge legs, and peep about to find ouj-selves dishonora- 
ble graves." [Applause.] 

Sir, while I am ashamed and sorry at this outrage on the con- 
stitutional liberty of our country, in one sense I rejoice at it. It 
has been beautifully said that when the cup is full, a single drop 
will make it overflow. It can do no injury to the learned sena- 
tor. It will only plant fresh laurels around his brow, and carry 
his name down among the revered martyrs for liberty to future 
times. But I rejoice for the salutary influence it will exert upon 
the Nortli. [Applause] We were becoming too supine, and 
though recent events were stirring up the public mind, we re- 
quired some startling, impressive fact to waken us up to our 
duty, and we have got it. [Applause.] Contempt, it is said, 
will pierce the shell of an oyster. With what just indignation, 
then, should we be seized when we see the Nortli, in one of its 
noblt-st and most eloquent advocates of freedom, struck down ou 
the floor of Congress, as a butcher would strike down an irra- 
tional animal ; and the South sending forth her reams of parch- 
ment applauding the villauous act! [Applause.] Sir, that 
blow, though dealt by a ruffian's arm, was wisely timed. The 
blood which followed that blow is precious blood. Evei-y drop 
of it, like the blood of Abel, cries aloud for vengeance [Vocifer. 
oua a])plause], and says — 

Who -will be a traitor knave. 

Who will fill a coward's grave. 

Who so bnse as he a slave. 

Let him turn and flee. [Applause.] 



^ APPENDIX. 327 

Sir, I look at the subject in another light. Every one who is 
anxious to advance the interests of morality and virtue, must 
moura at the I'epetition of such scenes. They are lowering the 
standard of public morals, and corrupting the tone of public sen- 
timent. Within a few mouths, four acts of an alarming and out- 
rageous character have occurred in the same city; and do not 
scenes of such frequent occurrence go down into the depth of so- 
ciety, pollute our associations, poison the springs of national 
virtue, and infuse into ourj'outh reckless and dissolute liabits, by 
habituating them to the view of blackguardism and crime as 
enacted in the highest courts of our country ? Need we wonder 
that ci-ime is so awfully prolific, that assassination and murder 
should be so frequent, when it is thus obtruded, constantly, upon 
our view ? Aye, and wheu it is endorsed and applauded by so 
many as abettors? Sir, let us think what a flood-g:ite of crime 
we are opening upon our country, if such practice-: are not sum- 
marily and forever arrested. Why, sir, society would become 
disorganized ; law would be an empty name ; and might, not 
right, would have the ascendency. 

Franklin once said, " When you have got a principle, in order 
to be satisfied of its soundness, carry it out."' Let us Franklin- 
ize the principle of Brooks, that when a man conceises himself 
injured, he takes club-law. A clergyman (my beloved brother, 
Dr. Hague, for instance) preaches a pointed sermon to his pa- 
risliionei-s. One of them thinks that some of his remarks bore 
a personal reference. On the following day he walks beliind him 
on the street, and with the stroke of a bludgeon, lays him flat, 
saying, "That's for your impertinence yesterday." An editor of 
a newspaper indulges in some satirical remarks on the measures 
of his opponents. Ono of these comes into his office on the fol- 
lowing day, aud gives him a blow on the head while writing at 
his desk, which renders him insensible. As soon as animation is 
restored, the b'llly go.s up to him and tells him, " You did not 
injure me, sir, but it was my uncle !" [Laughter and applause.] 
It is still further proved, that there were a nuiiiber of associates, 
all countenancing the public outrage. The editor takes him to 
a court of justice, and while he firmly states his wrong, the said 
" uncle" now confronts him, and exclaims, " You are a liar 1" 
[Laughter.] The bully has got friends at court, and after htar- 



328 APPENDIX. 

ing the cause, the judge dismisses the parties by the summary 
verdict that it was "an uufortunate occurrence !" [Laughter.] 
Gentlemen may laugh, but if such scenes are to go down through 
the graduating scale of society, polluting our courts of justice, 
infecting our schools, and regulating the intercourse of life, to 
what are we to come? Every house will require to be carefully 
guiirded as a prison, and every man become a policeman; CoJt's 
revolvers — manufacture them as rapidly as you will — will be 
too few for the peace of society, and the streets of our city will 
constantly exhibit some one wallowing in a pool of blood. 

Sir, in the name of that God, whose creature I am — in behalf 
of that Gospel which I have the honor to preach — for the safety 
of our domestic hearths, the prosperity of our schools, the purity 
of our courts of justice, the salvation of our country — I pray ef- 
fectual arrest may be put to the occurrence of such disgraceful 
scenes, or the pillory, the gibbet, the prison, the press, the pul- 
pit, the school-house, will all be employed in vain to curb the 
excesses of crime, and save the fabric of American socitty. 
[Loud applause.] 

And wliat is the remedy for this ? Brooks of course must be 
ostracized ; for to permit such a man any longer to exercise the 
office of a legislator, would be to outrage the feelings of the 
whole Northern community. But will that allay the discontent, 
and sweeten the intercourse between the northern and souiheru 
sections of our country ? I am afraid not, sir. 

The honorable gentleman who preceded me, pronounced a 
glowing eulogy upon the Union, and upon the fathers by wliom 
that Union was founded. He spoke of their patriotism and their 
bravery. Sir, my heart responded to every word uttered in their 
praise. But for what did they fight? for what did they found 
this Republic ? Was it not to secure to themselves and to their 
])Osterity, forever, safety of person, liberty of speech, and fi-ee- 
dom of the press? [Applause] Is not their memory dishon- 
ored, and the fruits of their labors despoiled, when a re|iresent- 
ative of the peo[ile is bludgeoned with impunity, and when, ia 
his person, the freedom of speech is trampled in the dust ? [Loud 
applause.] But, sir, I am not advocating the necessity of the 
dissolution of the Union, but things are portending such an issue. 
A Union formed between two disfordant interests is neither 



APPENDIX. 329 

healthy nor reputable. It reminds me of a Roman mode of pun- 
ishment, where a dead person was chained to the body of a liv- 
ing criminal, and the fetid, festering mass of corruption he was 
compelled to drag with him wherever he went. I will never 
advocate the dissolution of the Union, but I pray God that the 
other party will keep at a distance from us. [Applause.] We 
know enough of their code of honor, of their morality, of their 
courtesies, not to desire their intimate acquaintance. I envy 
them not their luxuries and ease, their sunny skies and exten- 
sive plantations, for when with these I think of the laxity of 
public morals, and the indolent habits they form — of the system 
of terror in which they constantly live — of the general igno- 
rance that prevails; and in view of the dissolute habits which 
exist there, rather than have their luxuries with their vices, I 
say with the country mouse — 

"Give me again my hollow tree, 
My crust of bread, and libebit 1" 

28* 



AN IMPORTANT WORK 



EVERY LITERARY AXD PROFESSIONAL MAN. 



THE MOST EMINENT ORATORS ANT) STATES- 
MEN OF ANCIEXT AND MODERN TIMES: containing 
Sketches of their Lives, Specimens of their Eloquence, and 
an Estimate of their Genius. By David A. Harsha. New 
York: Charles Scribner. One large 8vo. volume, 526 pp.; 
with portrait ^2 25 



OPINIONS OF EMINENT CRITICS AND LEADING JOURNALS. 

[From Vie lion. Rufus Choafe.] 
Da\tt> a. IIarsha, Esq. — 

Dear Sir : I thank you for your interesting volume. * * * The selections 
are characteristic and happy, and the critical and explanatory suggestions and 
commentary useful and just. 

I wiish the book and yourself all success. 

Very truly, your friend and servant, 

EUFUS CHOATE. 



[From Alfred B. Street, Esq.] 
D. A. H ARSHA, Esq.— Albany, August 2, 1855. 

Mj/ Dear Sir : I like your work much. It reflects great credit upon your 
literary genius, and upon American literature. * * * 

With my best wishes for you and your volume, believe me, 
Very truly, your friend, 

ALFEED B. STREET. 



(2) 

\_From President Nott, of Union College^ 

To David A. Harsha, Esq.— Union College, May 12, 1856. 

Dear Sir : I thank you for your " Orators and Statesmen." The selections 
made require no couimenrlation from me, and the critical and explanatory 
suggestions and commentary accompanying the same, as far as I have been 
able to examine them, are worthy of the selections they accompany. I trust 
you will find in the sale of the volume a requital for the talent you have ex- 
erted, and the labor you have bestowed in bringing it before the public. 

Very respectfully, 

ELIPHT NOTT. 



The work is an original production of the highest value. We consider it 
the most valuable book of the kind which has yet been \siaed.— Boston 
Traveler. 



The performance is one which does great crodit to the author, and will bo 
read with much interest by a large class of readers.— Cinci?inati Christian 
Advocate. 



It is a volume that every library, both public and private, should contain ; 
and we cannot too strongly recommend its perusal by every young man In 
the country. — Baltimore Patriot. 



The sketches are written in a very interesting style. — Boston Journal. 



Mr. Harsha's style is clear, simple, and polished, perfectly adapted to the 
subject. His work is one which should be in every \\hv&x:y.— Albany Knick- 
erbocker, 



"We bespeak for this work a wide circulation, which it richly deserves. Let 
it find a place in every public and private Mhv&i-y.— Central Christian Hei'Old, 
(Cincinnati, Ohio.) 



The volume of Mr. Ilarsha provides a good cotirse of popular study.— 
Charleston Mercury, {S. C.) 



We know of no other book which fills the place which Mr. Har-sha's volume 
has supplied, and we recommend it to every student and young man in the 
country. — Albany Argus. 

It is a volume which will be considered es.sential to grace the shelves of 
every library.— The Churchman, (iV. Yo'.-k.) 



(3) 
It will prove a useful and attractive book of reference.— iV^«M) York Tribune. 



It will be a popular work with the reading and professional community. - 
Oongregati(/nal Journal, {Concord, N. H.) 



For students, litterateurs, clergymen, lawyers, and politicians, this work is 
a great de.siileratum. It contains the very best specimens of ancient and 
modern eloquence, and at the same time presents a vast amount of biograph- 
ical information.— flcwie Journal, (N. York.) 



The book will be useful to those intending to pursue the course of physical 
and mental training necessary to insure success in public speaking.— 5«iM/'6?ay 
Evening Post, {Phil.) 

It is one of the books that should speedily find its way into public and pri- 
vate libraries, and into every family of iateWi^^nce.— Congregational Herald, 
{Chicago, III.) 

We recommend it as necessary to every library, and adapted to all cla.sses 
of readers.— T/oy Tim&s. 

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ing works that we have ever had the pleasure of reading. — Glenn's Falls 
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The author has done his part extremely weU.—Xew York Albion. 



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which betokening that the autlior is a thorough master of the subject on 
which he treats.— i^o/to«"s Literary Gazette. 



The work has been executed with rare skill and judgment— Yankee Blade, 
{Boston.) 

The memoirs of the orators are extremely interesting.— iV^eu) York Times, 



(4) 

These sketches are well drawn, and abound in interesting accounts of the 
peculiarities and personal history of the orators. — Boston Atlas. 



The author passes in review all the great orators of history, with critical 
notices, and a full description of their lives and deeds. The work is done 
with care, and has evidently been the result of long preparation and study. — 
New York Evangelist. 

The historical details will be found particularly interesting. — Boston Puri- 
tan Recorder. 



The book will prove a valuable one. — Daily Courant, {Hartford, Conii.) 



The author, in this volume, has presented the leading events in the lives of 
some of the most renowned orators of antiquity and modern times. The work 
furnislies a desii-able text-book for the student of oratory, as well as a book of 
reference for all. — Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. 



A most valuable work of history and biography, as well as of the finest 
.specimens of public oratory. — Godey's Lady's Book. 



When we add that the plan Is on the whole judiciously and effectively exe- 
cuted, nothing more need be said in commendation of the hook.— New York 
Independent. 



' This work, sent by mail, postage paid to any part of the 
country, by inclosing $2 25 to the publisher. Address 

CHARLES SCRIBNER, 

37*7 & 379 Broadway. 



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